I was very disappointed when I found out what people meant by ‘Google glasses’.

I had imagined it to be a conceptual term that cleverly described the Internet’s impact on the way we see the world.

Sort of like ‘beer goggles’ – that make members of the opposite sex look far more attractive than when they are viewed with the naked eye in the harsh light of next morning.

I did a quick search – keen to find out if writers were thinking blinkers or rose-coloured lenses. Would they suggest that these ‘glasses’ corrected short sightedness or made it worse? Would they perhaps be multi-focals that allow you to see lots of images at once?

It turns out that Google Glass(es) are actually wearable computers with an optical head-mounted display.

Pity. These ‘glasses’ are likely to affect both the way we look (i.e. like a geek) and the way we view (and experience) the world.

I wonder if they will have safety glass to protect the wearer from cyber attack…

In case you are interested, these glasses will include a camera, display, touchpad, battery and microphone. Most sources seem to be skeptical about whether this form of wearable technology will ever become widespread – but that’s what people said about computers and cars. They will be available in early 2014 (or perhaps even by Christmas).

[PS Thank you to Clyde at itmcomputing for pointing out that you can already buy a pre-release pair (and I bet he would love a pair).]

Photo credit: © Chris Brignell | Dreamstime.com

Categories: Internet

Tags: Beer goggles, culture, design, gadgets, Google glass, internet, lifestyle, OHMD, Opinion, society, technology, wearable technology