In early 2012 Google co-founder Sergey Brin was spotted in San Francisco sporting the Google Glass, which were augmented reality glasses that provided users with an in-your-face heads up display (HUD) offering information about the weather, messages from friends, or directions around town. Google then took the decision in 2015, after lacklustre reception to the comical appearance of the wearable device, coupled with the privacy issues, to halt production of its smart glasses for the consumer sector. But soon concerns over the safety and privacy of the devices began to hinder its mainstream adoption, with Google Glass in particular coming under scrutiny from US lawmakers on several occasions. The two students, AnhPhu Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio, posted a video on X (formerly Twitter), of them using Meta smart glasses when out in public, and utilising the built in camera to livestream video footage to Instagram. Two students at Harvard university in the United States have triggered privacy worries after showing how easy wearable devices, coupled with AI, can identify random strangers in real-time. Google Glass was perhaps one of the first truly wearable devices (being over a decade old) and is still one of the widely recognised. Google released a new $999 Google’s Glass Enterprise Edition 2 of the wearable in May 2019. But in March 2023 Google announced it halting sales of Glass Enterprise, discontinuing the last remaining element of Google Glass. This is not the first time that privacy concerns have been raised about wearable technology, and especially smart glasses. Google Glass was first sold to developers and early adopters in 2013 for $1,500 and it also featured a front-facing camera. However Google did continue selling it for enterprise and business use, with Glass Enterprise being the successor to Google Glass.
This Cyber News was published on www.silicon.co.uk. Publication date: Thu, 03 Oct 2024 14:13:07 +0000