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Glass is an entertainment device, just because it is HUD does not invalidate it having an audio visual feedback, complete with a camera. It is made for consumpt

by iamshs 13y ago

Glass is an entertainment device, just because it is HUD does not invalidate it having an audio visual feedback, complete with a camera. It is made for consumption, on a small and more personal scale. Glass could potentially make us worse drivers too. Satnav systems have guidelines issued for usage. Here, we are dealing with illumination directly 2 inch in front of my eye. I will go by your data, but would rather want California DMV to test it out comprehensively.

myko 13y ago
Consumption doesn't mean entertainment, unless you think navigation and driving alerts are entertainment? Satnav systems potentially make us worse drivers as well. If I have to look down at the system (which I do) it's much more intrusive than Glass, which only requires I look up and slightly to the right to see. It is certainly not directly in front of your eye unless you are wearing it completely incorrectly. Have you had Glass on? It isn't as intrusive as you appear to believe.
- iamshs 13y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6640694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6640694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6640895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6640895 Two people who have tried. Unrelated: Looks like another topic nuked: http://hnrankings.info/6640532/ http://hnrankings.info/6640532/
  - ecspike 13y ago
    I've driven with Glass and on a trip where I'm not sure of the turns, it is much safer than looking at my phone for GPS instructions. It sits above my field of vision and is no more distracting that the frames of my glasses. When Glass is in nav mode, that's all it does. Shows you the next turn and/or the route overview.
    - danellis 13y ago
      And to be clear, since you didn't say it, the screen is off between those turns. It also gives you audible directions just as any other GPS would, so you don't have to look at it.
lnanek2 13y ago
Heads up displays have already been proven by the military to be much safer. They try to reduce "heads down" time for the pilots looking at their instruments as much as possible. If you compare a GPS unit the user has to turn their head or worse look down to use vs. a Glass sitting above their vision with the directions always available at a glance, the Glass is pretty clearly superior. Realistically, many users use their phones for GPS and don't have a proper mount whereas Glass will always be properly mounted to be hands free, so it's probably even safer than the most common thing of just using your phone for directions.
- fusiongyro 13y ago
  > They try to reduce "heads down" time for the pilots looking at their instruments as much as possible. Do cars integrate with Glass like this?
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- falcolas 13y ago
  Slight correction - a properly designed HUD is safer, in aircraft. Aircraft are not cars - watching for other aircraft is typically handled by air traffic controllers for most aircraft that will have HUDs, or the HUDs are capable of displaying the locations of other aircraft. Google Glass interfaces are not designed to be HUDs to be used when driving, and there is no ATC or automatic detection of other vehicles when you're in a car. The two use cases are quite different.
  - MAGZine 13y ago
    sure, but are you implying that taking your eyes off the road to look down is safer than having directions superimposed on the road, because you're driving and not flying?
    - falcolas 13y ago
      Honestly, yes. You have to consciously decide to look down at an in-car UI, and change your focus to match. If something is constantly in your field of vision, it's going to consume more of your attention when you should be watching traffic around you. My flight instructor phrased it this way. In a car in good conditions, you spend 95% of your time watching your surroundings. In an aircraft in visual conditions, you spend 70% of your time looking outside the cockpit. In an aircraft in instrument conditions, you spend maybe 5% of your time looking outside. The pilot is focused on the hud first, the outside environment second. A car should be completely reversed from that.
dragonwriter 13y ago
> Glass is an entertainment device, just because it is HUD does not invalidate it having an audio visual feedback, complete with a camera. It is made for consumption, on a small and more personal scale. "Consumption" != "entertainment". A navigation system is made for consuming content, too.
- vacri 13y ago
  'Take a photo and upload it to my social network' is an entertainment device. Sure, you could construct an argument around professional photographers blah blah, but the camera is not professional quality, and from experience, there's no way to frame the photo properly. The glass is almost entirely an entertainment device in its current form.
  - Fargren 13y ago
    I agree on general grounds that the Glass is mostly for entertainment, but you argument is not a good one. That a device is not optimal for a particular kind of photography doesn't preclude someone from using it for photography artistically or professionally. Using "crappy" cameras can conceivably add to the photo; using the Glass for photo is no less valid than filming a movie with a black and white camera even though we have color cameras.
    - vacri 13y ago
      My argument that it's "not a professional photographer's tool blah blah" was intended to prevent exactly what you have just said. Yes, you can make a baroque, twisted set of circumstances in which the item might be made use of in a professional manner, but that's not how it's going to be used. You could say the same thing of a craft knife: it's not a surgical tool. Sure, in a very particular set of circumstances, a surgeon will use one, but that's 'blah blah'. It's not the way the items is used by the vast bulk of its users.

by iamshs 13y ago

myko 13y ago

Consumption doesn't mean entertainment, unless you think navigation and driving alerts are entertainment? Satnav systems potentially make us worse drivers as well. If I have to look down at the system (which I do) it's much more intrusive than Glass, which only requires I look up and slightly to the right to see. It is certainly not directly in front of your eye unless you are wearing it completely incorrectly. Have you had Glass on? It isn't as intrusive as you appear to believe.

iamshs 13y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6640694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6640694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6640895 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6640895 Two people who have tried. Unrelated: Looks like another topic nuked: http://hnrankings.info/6640532/ http://hnrankings.info/6640532/
- ecspike 13y ago
  I've driven with Glass and on a trip where I'm not sure of the turns, it is much safer than looking at my phone for GPS instructions. It sits above my field of vision and is no more distracting that the frames of my glasses. When Glass is in nav mode, that's all it does. Shows you the next turn and/or the route overview.
  - danellis 13y ago
    And to be clear, since you didn't say it, the screen is off between those turns. It also gives you audible directions just as any other GPS would, so you don't have to look at it.

lnanek2 13y ago

Heads up displays have already been proven by the military to be much safer. They try to reduce "heads down" time for the pilots looking at their instruments as much as possible. If you compare a GPS unit the user has to turn their head or worse look down to use vs. a Glass sitting above their vision with the directions always available at a glance, the Glass is pretty clearly superior. Realistically, many users use their phones for GPS and don't have a proper mount whereas Glass will always be properly mounted to be hands free, so it's probably even safer than the most common thing of just using your phone for directions.

fusiongyro 13y ago
> They try to reduce "heads down" time for the pilots looking at their instruments as much as possible. Do cars integrate with Glass like this?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
falcolas 13y ago
Slight correction - a properly designed HUD is safer, in aircraft. Aircraft are not cars - watching for other aircraft is typically handled by air traffic controllers for most aircraft that will have HUDs, or the HUDs are capable of displaying the locations of other aircraft. Google Glass interfaces are not designed to be HUDs to be used when driving, and there is no ATC or automatic detection of other vehicles when you're in a car. The two use cases are quite different.
- MAGZine 13y ago
  sure, but are you implying that taking your eyes off the road to look down is safer than having directions superimposed on the road, because you're driving and not flying?
  - falcolas 13y ago
    Honestly, yes. You have to consciously decide to look down at an in-car UI, and change your focus to match. If something is constantly in your field of vision, it's going to consume more of your attention when you should be watching traffic around you. My flight instructor phrased it this way. In a car in good conditions, you spend 95% of your time watching your surroundings. In an aircraft in visual conditions, you spend 70% of your time looking outside the cockpit. In an aircraft in instrument conditions, you spend maybe 5% of your time looking outside. The pilot is focused on the hud first, the outside environment second. A car should be completely reversed from that.

dragonwriter 13y ago

> Glass is an entertainment device, just because it is HUD does not invalidate it having an audio visual feedback, complete with a camera. It is made for consumption, on a small and more personal scale. "Consumption" != "entertainment". A navigation system is made for consuming content, too.

vacri 13y ago
'Take a photo and upload it to my social network' is an entertainment device. Sure, you could construct an argument around professional photographers blah blah, but the camera is not professional quality, and from experience, there's no way to frame the photo properly. The glass is almost entirely an entertainment device in its current form.
- Fargren 13y ago
  I agree on general grounds that the Glass is mostly for entertainment, but you argument is not a good one. That a device is not optimal for a particular kind of photography doesn't preclude someone from using it for photography artistically or professionally. Using "crappy" cameras can conceivably add to the photo; using the Glass for photo is no less valid than filming a movie with a black and white camera even though we have color cameras.
  - vacri 13y ago
    My argument that it's "not a professional photographer's tool blah blah" was intended to prevent exactly what you have just said. Yes, you can make a baroque, twisted set of circumstances in which the item might be made use of in a professional manner, but that's not how it's going to be used. You could say the same thing of a craft knife: it's not a surgical tool. Sure, in a very particular set of circumstances, a surgeon will use one, but that's 'blah blah'. It's not the way the items is used by the vast bulk of its users.