Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

Google Glass app that gives users encyclopaedic knowledge

Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Dec, 2014 11:18 AM
    Although the immediate commercial future of Google Glass appears bleak, a series of apps to be showcased here this coming weekend and deployable on that wearable computer provide a glimpse into its long-range potential.
     
    One example is "Glass Genius", an application created at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, where over the past three months, 11 students experimented with the Google Glass eyewear to create a useful tool for media professionals.
     
    "It was a 15-week 'hackathon' (software production marathon)," web journalism professor Robert Hernandez, a fan of new technologies who has uploaded the results of his pioneering class to the website Glassjournalism.io, told Efe news agency in an interview.
     
    "Glass Genius" consists of voice-recognition software linked to content created specifically for viewing on the tiny 640 x 360 pixel screen built into the right lens of the head-mounted product.
     
    When the application is active, the screen projects images or text related to words said either by the Google Glass user or another speaker, giving the former access to detailed information on the topic at hand.
     
    In its test phase, Hernandez and his team loaded the system with information about the Ebola virus and tested the application on volunteers, who, thanks to the glasses, came across as knowledgeable on the subject.
     
    "Think of it as an external brain at your disposal," Hernandez said.
     
    Tests conducted on Glass Genius have shown its potential as an interviewing aid, for example, but also have demonstrated that the app is far from infallible.
     
    Hernandez acknowledged that more time was needed to work out the kinks in the software but he said he was satisfied with the results.
     
    "We're excited that we were able to produce something. That's nice, but the purpose of the class was to have three types of students working together," he said.
     
    One-third of those taking part in the hackathon were journalism students, while another third consisted of software developers and the remainder were a mixture of young people from different fields of study, including public relations and web development.
     
    The class will present its results for the first time at an event Saturday at USC that will also showcase other apps developed for use with Google Glass, which was first unveiled in 2012 by the Mountain View, California-based tech giant but has failed to gain broad consumer appeal in part due to its hefty price tag of $1,500 per device.
     
    Those other Google Glass apps include first person point of view videos showing the actions of athletes, hair stylists and magicians and a demonstration of how to use the Spritz speed-reading programme.

    MORE Tech ARTICLES

    Google can predict market crashes

    Google can predict market crashes
    By looking at specific topics people search for on internet, Google can tell you if the stock market is headed for a crash or not....

    Google can predict market crashes

    NASA's Mars rover breaks off-Earth roving record

    NASA's Mars rover breaks off-Earth roving record
    NASA's Opportunity Mars rover that landed on the Red Planet in 2004 now holds the off-Earth roving distance record after trekking for 40 km....

    NASA's Mars rover breaks off-Earth roving record

    Wireless cooling: Magnets to keep your fridge cool

    Wireless cooling: Magnets to keep your fridge cool
    Magnets may soon act as wireless cooling agents for your refrigerators, laptops and other devices if a theory propounded by researchers at Massachusetts...

    Wireless cooling: Magnets to keep your fridge cool

    Human-induced water vapour next climate threat

    Human-induced water vapour next climate threat
    The rising levels of water vapour in the upper troposphere - a key amplifier of global warming - owing to greenhouse gases will intensify climate change...

    Human-induced water vapour next climate threat

    Facebook favoured for background check on prospective partner: Survey

    Facebook favoured for background check on prospective partner: Survey
    Almost fifty percent unmarried people in India use social networking site Facebook to conduct a background check on their prospective partner...

    Facebook favoured for background check on prospective partner: Survey

    2.5 bn smartphone users globally by 2015: US report

    2.5 bn smartphone users globally by 2015: US report
    Nearly 2.5 billion people or 35 percent of the global population is expected to use smartphones by the end of 2015, says the latest report of US-based industry...

    2.5 bn smartphone users globally by 2015: US report