heads-up display

When you stage a debate on Google Glass between a self-described technology evangelist and a man who believes that current technology trends are debasing culture, things are likely to get interesting … especially when the discussion begins with the question of the etiquette of wearing the gadget at a urinal.

Check out The Next Web‘s conference video below of a conversation between Glass enthusiast Robert “I will never live a day of my life from now on without it” Scoble and British entrepreneur and privacy advocate Andrew Keen …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcRZeRyUq1k

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Google made available today an introductory video to Glass featuring a brief tutorial on how to navigate its controls.

Using Glass certainly doesn’t seem to come naturally, but the controls are basic enough that Glass should be fairly easy to learn.

It seems the more of this kind of thing I see, the more I want to try Google Glass for myself, which is probably exactly what Google is trying to do.

looks like root is easy too: reboot-bootloader gives you fastboot oem unlock. There is fun to be had here…

— Liam McLoughlin (@Hexxeh) April 26, 2013

Update: A post from Google employee Dan Morrill clarifies that, although the original developer claimed a “root is easy”, the process developers are using is actually a ‘fastboot oem unlock’. Rather than exposing a security exploit, Google has actually intentionally left Glass open for devs to tinker with, as further explained by Googler Stephen Lau:

Not to bring anybody down… but seriously… we intentionally left the device unlocked so you guys could hack it and do crazy fun shit with it.  I mean, FFS, you paid $1500 for it… go to town on it.  Show me something cool.

Updated 2: Founder of the Cydia jailbreak store @saurik provided some clarification on his earlier tweets, informing us that he did not use fastboot oem unlock:

Actually, my device’s bootloader is still locked: I did not use fastboot oem unlock, and in fact that would not have been useful without the source code to the Glass kernel, which was not made available until this morning. I relied on a race condition in the adb restore process, a bug that existed in Android 4.0 (and even Android 4.1). As the Glass ships with Android 4.0.4, the bug was easy to exploit. This exploit was not one that I found, to be clear (unless you count “using Google” ;P): I pulled apart an implementation by@Bin4ryDigit, and adapted it for use on Glass (which required very small modifications to the backup; the entire process of learning the exploit and fixing it took 2 hours).

Saurik later published an article explaining some of the ins and outs of the potential for writing apps for Glass and the exploit he originally took advantage of.

Have you been wondering how long until developers crack into Google Glass to provide full root access and start creating some interesting mods? It appears we might not be too far off with Google intern on the Chrome OS team and hacker Liam McLoughlin confirming on Twitter that a root might be easier than many people think (via selfscreens).

McLoughlin first tweeted that, “There’s a “debug mode” option on Glass that appears to enable ADB access. I got a shell on my Glass :D (no root yet!).” Shortly after it appears he also figured out a root method, tweeting, “looks like root is easy too: reboot-bootloader gives you fastboot oem unlock. There is fun to be had here…”

He isn’t the only one working on a root for Google Glass, hacker @chpwn tweeted today that founder of the Cydia jailbreak store @saurik is in the process of unlocking his Google Glass and Saurik later confirmed:
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We already knew that future generations of Google’s Glass headset would include prescription frames and lenses in addition to rumors of the company working with trendy designers to make the frames more fashionable. Today we get a hint at some of the ideas Google is floating around for future iterations of the hardware via a patent application published today by the US Patent & Trademark Office and first spotted by UnwiredView.

As highlighted by the patent drawing above, Google’s idea is to use see-through displays in order to make Glass look more like an ordinary, traditional pair of sunglasses. Google describes the invention as “A near-to-eye optical system includes an optically transmissive substrate having a see-through display region and a repeating pattern of diffraction elements:
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Google just released the mother-load of information on Google Glass including an API, hardware specs (yuk yuk) and FAQs and much more.  Developers, Dive in.

Wow Google Glass is finally shipping?! Like imminently based on this email? http://t.co/jTmhpuvtRs

— Brian Klug (@nerdtalker) April 15, 2013

It appears that Google Glass Explorers should soon be getting their Glass units. AnandTech’s Brian Klug got the following announcement.

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Like many people, I was intrigued by the recent edict from a Seattle bar banning the not-yet-for-sale, action-cam-equipped Google Glass wearable computer, citing privacy concerns. However, while this article originally intended to highlight other potential locations and situations where Glass will be frowned upon, after speaking with a few colleagues, it became clear that the video- and photo-capturing headset will be unwelcome in many more venues than it is allowed. And that spells trouble for Glass adoption, especially as some folks are hoping to rely on Glass — eventually — as their primary pair of spectacles.

When nearly anyone has the capability to very discreetly begin capturing footage of his/her surroundings, concerns are bound to pile up. It’s not just bars which have privacy issues to consider — nearly any other establishment that caters to patrons has a responsibility to make sure its customers are not videotaping each other. In other words, the entire service industry is going to end up banning Glass and products like it; expect No Recording signs to begin cropping up all over the country.

But it’s not just retail and service locations that will be affected, as corporate America is also rightfully sensitive about cameras at the workplace. How’s this for irony: it’s almost certain that Google itself will ban the majority of employees from using Glass at work, due to the many sensitive projects in development at any given time.

Airports? Can’t really see Glass welcome at establishments touting such tight security. Colleges, high schools, etc? Almost certain bans, but for a different reason — instant access to information makes cheating beyond trivial. Will you be able to play pro sports with Glass? Compete in grandmaster chess tournaments? Drive a car? Fly a plane? Pilot a boat?

These are questions that nearly every business, organization, and venue are going to have to answer for themselves, both in America and worldwide, and much sooner than they’d probably prefer to. Progress is coming soon, though, and this time the leap is forward enough to have major societal implications.

[Image courtesy of ZDNet]