With Google Glass in the hands of users all over the world, the mysteries regarding it become fewer and fewer every day.
However, that isn’t to say that some do not remain. While the biggest is going to be what kind of tech world are we looking at when everyone conceivably has access to its capabilities, a smaller, but still intriguing, query is how gaming will work on the device.
So far we only have the app “Starfinder”to give us a hint. Unfortunately, its gameplay of locating and naming constellations faster than your opponents probably doesn’t exactly inspire gamers everywhere to start dreaming of the future with Glass.
However, “Glassbattle”from developer Brick Simple may do just that.
“Glassbattle” is nothing more than a remodeling of the classic game “Battleship”brought to Google Glass. To play, you and another user are given grids that indicate where your ships are positioned. Turn by turn you call out X and Y coordinates through the Glass microphone and attempt to hit all your opponent’s ships points to sink them. Sink them all, and victory is yours.
It doesn’t exactly differ much from the classic board game, but honestly it is the perfect fit for technology like Glass as it allows you a familiar archetype, but uses the hands free Glass system to present it in a way never before possible. It may prove to be just the type of title that slowly opens the door for other game developers to get a feel for how Glass is going to enhance the experience.
Okay, so admittedly it’s not exactly “The Last of Us,” but Glass has to start somewhere with gaming, and this looks a hell of a lot more promising than naming constellations.
I’m sure by now we’ve all seen the mock ups, diagrams, videos shot from, parodies, specs, put downs, hype ups, and general impressions of Google Glass that have been floating around the internet for quite some time.
However, through it all there are still very few people who know exactly what Glass looks like to the user which, when it comes to understanding a product without any real historical equivalent, is kind of a big deal.
While it’s unlikely anyone will get a truly great idea of what it’s like to wear Glass until they are able to do so, there is one blog called phandroid, that’s posted a video showing a pretty good demonstration of the device in action, from the perspective of the user.
The actual quality of the HUD image is…not so great, though that is likely a result of the awkward task of trying to record the device, combined with the impossible hype surrounding it.
However functionality wise, this is a pretty impressive demo. The commands exhibited are extremely responsive, the phone and video chat features are particular highlights, and in general everything looks to work more or less as advertised, at least in the current “out of the box” capacity.
Google Glass has a long way to go before the final chapter on it is written, but from this demo it looks like underneath the high asking price, and still somewhat stupid looks, there might just be an actually useful device.
Without trying to sound like they’re cutting me a check for saying so, I love JetBlue. Not only do they provide noticeable amounts of more leg room, but they also give you a personal TV screen with basic cable, and overall provide the best service of any airline I’ve ever used.
The reason for this shameless shilling is to get across the point that JetBlue really do have an eye on making drastic improvements to the flying experience. That is now evident more than ever, thanks to the recent Google sponsored contest asking people to come up with their own uses for the upcoming Google Glass device through the twitter hashtag campaign #ifihadglass. While some amazing concepts have already spawned from the contest (such as 911 liveview assistance), one of the more complete visions of the Google Glass future comes from JetBlue.
Essentially they are envisioning a world where you can stay on top of your flight, and the airport experience in general, without ever breaking stride thanks to using Glass to do everything from the expected but awesome (check live flight status, know when your baggage will arrive, get a cab fare estimate) to the “HOLY CRAP, REALLY?!?!?” ideas such as viewing the capacity of the nearest parking garage and a tracker for the nearest available electrical outlet in the terminal.
This is all of course just a concept, and a very early one at that, but it not only shows how much more pleasant the flying experience could be with Google Glass, but is also slowly showing the world exactly the type of things this device is truly capable of, and why its upcoming release is set to be the biggest gadget release since the iPhone.
