In his 1992 novel “Snow Crash,” Neal Stephenson envisioned the Metaverse: a three-dimensional manifestation of the Internet in which people interact and collaborate via digitally-constructed avatars. In the decades since, technology has advanced to the point where such a place no longer seems like science fiction. Stephenson’s Metaverse is a virtual reality space, a completely immersive computer-generated experience whose users have minimal ability to interact with the real world. In contrast to this fictional vision is today’s burgeoning field of augmented reality (AR), a technology that superimposes visual information or other data in front of one’s view of the real world. More
Tag Index / Showing 1 - 14 of 14 results for “Google Glass”
How the Internet of Things Can Enhance Human Relationships
Technology for capturing patient visits promises to free doctors from the burden of data entry and updating medical records, which consumes more than two hours of the average professional’s workday, according to digital health startup Augmedix. Meanwhile, information fed into a doctor's Google Glass screen could allow physicians to remain present and undistracted during limited patient face time. As digital health options proliferate, technology will free physicians from back-office burdens and reduce inefficiencies. More
Surround Computing Is About to Change Our Lives
Computing is in upheaval. After 40 years of microprocessor improvement, an even more fundamental advance is underway, with enormous implications for how we will live. We are uniting traditional central processing units (CPUs), the "brains" of computers, with graphics processing units (GPUs) to enable much easier information processing with faster performance and better energy efficiency. In fact, the changes in computing chip architecture underway today may be the most significant since the 1970s. We need this advance. More data will be created in the next three years than in all of human history. More
Internet of Things Partner Insights
Beyond Things: The Internet of Everything Takes Connections to the Power of Four
Many people are familiar with the concept of the Internet of Things (IoT). Not only does it have its own Wikipedia article, but last month the Internet of Things was added to the Oxford dictionary, which defines it as “a proposed development of the Internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.” So it’s not surprising that people might be confused when we start talking about the Internet of Everything. What’s the difference? Is IoE simply a rebranding of IoT? More
OK Glass, Do Your Shtick
If you enjoyed Trae Vassallo's recent post about how she uses Google Glass to be a more efficient mom, you'll love author Gary Shteyngart's account of puttering around New York, basking in the awe factor of the futuristic eyewear. Shteyngart entered a Twitter contest to become one of the first "Google Explorers" to try out Glass. (His winning tweet, "#ifihadglass I could dream up new ideas for the TV adaptation of my novel Super Bad True Love Story," earned him the privilege of paying $1,500 for the product.) After some basic training at the Glass Explorers "Basecamp," Shteyngart hit the streets, along with several hundred other Explorers in New York City. More
Trae Vassallo’s Tour of Functional Geek Fashion
In May, Kleiner Perkins partner Trae Vassallo wrote an article for Techonomy.com about how Google Glass makes her a more efficient mom. At Techonomy's recent Internet of Everything event in Menlo Park, we caught up with Vassallo and asked her to talk more about her passion for wearable technology. She showed off her Basis watch, which gives her insight into her physical health and can even predict when she's about to get sick, and her Google Glass, which she prefers to wear in sunglass mode to tone down the geek factor. More
The Increasingly Wearable Cloud
While Google Glass is the biggest and boldest wearable cloud technology on the market today, it’s still in the early-adopter phase. But according to a recent Forbes blog by Joe McKendrick, more and more on-your-person cloud offerings—including fitness monitors, smart watches, and lifelogging cameras—are coming out, and pretty soon they’ll become ubiquitous. More
Why the Internet of Everything Includes the Internet of You
When the tech industry talks about the Internet of Everything (IoE), it sounds so huge it’s almost intimidating. Executives toss around numbers like 50 billion connected devices by 2015 and hundred-billion-dollar opportunities. But at the recent Techonomy Labs IoE forum, an idea emerged that’s a little more embraceable on an intimate level. Listening to some of the presenters, it seemed clear that we’ll all soon have our private little versions of the IoE. No one, as far as I can tell, has named this yet, so I’ll call it the Internet of You ... or IoU. More
Red Flags About Google Glass Hyperventilation
It's one of the defining technologies of our day, already, even though it's not even really released. Everybody has a question or a complaint about Google Glass. Whether you think them cool or creepy, the combination of the technology's potential and the fact that Google is the vendor has the world reacting. Sage observer Larry Downes argues in Harvard Business Review that there is no stopping this tech. But he makes note of calls to regulate it, much like governments that initially insisted someone walk in front of early cars carrying a red flag to warn horse-riders of the oncoming danger. Congress and governments generally seem to have no clue this time, either. Google, meanwhile, is saying nothing. More
How to Take the Internet of Everything Mainsteam
The big challenge ahead for the Internet of Everything (IoE) is to bring it to the mainstream—and a couple of keys to that transition are the proliferation of smart phones and wearable devices, said a panel of technologists and investors at the Techonomy Lab: Man, Machines, and the Network conference on Thursday in Menlo Park, CA. “For generations, Hollywood taught us what mainstream was, and now Silicon Valley is showing what mainstrem will be,” said Frank Chen of Andreessen Horowitz. The IoE will do that by bringing computing and programming into everyday intimate life. More
OK Glass, Mute the Children (#ParentingThroughGlass)
I had a surprising revelation after my first weekend with Google’s Internet-connected specs: Glass is perfect for parents. After all, who needs hands-free productivity more than a parent? Who has more need for a smart assistant? Who gets more joy from photos of surprising kid moments? Parents! And you could be next: If you have given up your self-respect for the pragmatism of a minivan (I confess I have), you are a prime candidate for Glass. More
Slumping PC Sales Signal Rise of Mobile Computing
Consumers may be going mobile more rapidly than just about anyone in the computing industry could have predicted. Two new reports show sales of desktop and laptop machines dropping sharply in the first quarter of 2013. First-quarter shipments of PCs were down 14 percent worldwide from the same period last year, according to International Data Corp., with Gartner Inc. tallying an 11 percent decline. The numbers may vary, but the consensus is clear: more and more consumers are flocking to mobile computing. More
Google Unveils Voice Recognition With Silent Film Demo
As part of the roll-out for its newly developed voice-recognition tool, Google has unveiled a nifty little feature that allows users to add subtitles to silent film clips. Open PeanutGalleryFilms.com in Chrome (it won't work in other browsers) and play around with it, with that caveat that the functionality is still a work in progress. Users have to verbalize punctuation, and proper nouns can yield comical results akin to texting auto-fill gaffes. Google's voice recognition is an important step toward making our computers actually listen to us when we scream at them. Speech control is also likely to be integrated into Google Glass, so you can now look forward to talking to your eyewear. More
Newsletter