Wearable technology is pretty hot and in fact so hot that Amazon set-up a dedicated shop front for it. Now you can enhance your life, or whatever is left of it, with all types of thingamajigs but the long-term usefulness is a subject of debate.
It’s time we upend that argument with wearable technology that can actually do something important such as searching while you amble about.
Wearable technologies are pieces of items, clothing or some random stuff we put on ourselves but with embedded smart that can interact with us or the environment.
For example, all those fitness bands that count the number of steps (and make you feel guilty for sitting on your fat backside all day) or your pulse (if you are still alive) are wearable tech. Nike and Apple have been on this for over a century.
Google got in the game and made Google Glass which is the most popular or maybe the most obnoxious and controversial. In fact, it is getting banned left right and center. That is by the way.
What’s more interesting has been Google’s attempt to open the SDK/GDK/API of the Glass such that guys could write apps to leverage on its capabilities. Stuffs like navigations apps have been done and they are quite awesome.
What if I can look at anything and then Glass can search for its name, its price and all that sh*t. Imagine hanging out at the local supermarket and I can Glass (new verb) a grocery barcode and it tells me it is a dollar cheaper at a store just few minutes away (location awareness)? That would be a breath-taking app!
Or I’m out there camping (you actually believe I camp?) and I look at an insect and it gives me the Wikipedia entry that tells me the furry 8-legged dude is a tarantula and I should sprint as fast as my stubby legs could carry my body with love handles and midsection jiggling along.
I’m not a healthy living freak but I have whipped up a sufficient amount of guilt to help me in divorcing my rapidly bulging mid-section which is glued to me like stuck on you. So with this All Seeing Glass I could wink at a bowl of food, it IDs the stuff and tells me how many pounds of fat is going to join its brothers in my pot belly. That would be fantastic!
Maybe law enforcement could see some nice looking well-dressed fella and using facial recognition our Olopa will know he’s the badass leader of Boko Haram coming to scope the next bomb site. Ok, this wouldn’t work. One, almost every one of the top companies are running away from facial recognition because of the privacy issues and two I doubt if the Nigerian Police or military know any of the would be bombers even if he’s a local newscaster.
I could also use it to pass my GMAT exam – that is what some of my younger friends would want. Too bad fellow, that ain’t gonna happen!
