To me, google glasses is worth a buy for just only one reason: sousvelliance(or inverse survelliance).
When somebody crashed into your house, or you witnessed a crime taking progress, or remembering an important details related to business dealing, it just may be worth the 1500 dollars you spent to get a Google Glass.
Other application of google glass may provide utility on a daily basis. I can imagine getting 10 dollars worth of useful service from google glass everyday, and 5 dollars in security benefit for the surrounding society. Multiply that by 365 days which is 5475 USD in term of economic benefit every year. Don't forget to mention high value recordings such as record of criminal activities, abuse of authorities by cops.
(Of course, if you're too poor, than google glasses isn't worth 1500 USD even if it may be someday worth 1500 USD of value to you.)
Recording in a public place in generally legal, but recording a private conversation, like a business meeting, is more complex. The laws vary depending on state (in the U.S.), and some states require the consent of all participants. I'm not sure that I'd want to wear a device that would expose me to felony charges if I inadvertently recorded some sensitive conversation that I didn't have permission to record.
Also, private property owners (like store owners) can eject you for trying to record video on their premises. There are some places where recording devices will never be welcome, such as movie theaters, sporting events and workplaces that deal with confidential information (e.g., a doctor's or lawyer's office, or even a start-up company whose product wasn't yet announced).
And I'm pretty sure that even Google wouldn't be happy if all their employees wore these to work every day. Would your work colleagues or managers speak candidly with you if they knew that their every word might be getting recorded?
>Would your work colleagues or managers speak candidly with you if they knew that their every word might be getting recorded?
If I recall correctly, there's a light visible on the outside of the eyepiece (the lens part) that's on whenever recording is happening. There will be no question if recording is going on or not.
It sounds like an inverse-need situation. Those who can afford Google Glasses probably live in neighbourhoods they aren't attacked at a high rate, whereas those who live in higher crime neighbourhoods can't afford it.
Will it help? Once criminals recognize the device they will either steal them or smash you in the face to destroy the evidence.
>>Once criminals recognize the device they will either steal them or smash you in the face to destroy the evidence
Such a system for security ought to have video storage inside a hard shell with a high speed 4G link, able to send the last minute of video/sound (with gps position) to the police at the push of a button.
The high speed link is probably a bit bulky (batteries) and will probably always be put into a pocket or something anyway, even without security considerations.
But sure, criminals could get some equipment to disturb mobile connections.
If it becomes standard for that video to be continuously uploaded to a remote server, then hunting down the bystander would be entirely pointless. I think that's what we have to hope for.
1. Fair point. I think I had in mind a future where these devices were in such common use that any bystander could be assumed to be wearing one. That might lead to greater targeting of all bystanders, but at some point I suspect criminals (or other privacy seekers) would just adapt and factor "avoid bystanders" into their plans in order to settle at about the same level of violence they do today (rather than routinely attacking every bystander they see). This may be over-optimistic.
2. I find it to be an intriguing idea, but one that does admittedly scare the bejesus out of me. Unfortunately, I consider it all too probable that near-ubiquitous camera surveillance is in our future whether we like it or not, and in that scenario I'd vastly prefer for individuals to have their own recordings as well rather than blindly trust that the governments and/or corporations running the other cameras will always act with my best interests at heart.
Regarding 2, I'd get it to constantly upload to my home server. Seems easy to write an app for and set up on my server with php or maybe a custom service.
Comments
To me, google glasses is worth a buy for just only one reason: sousvelliance(or inverse survelliance).
When somebody crashed into your house, or you witnessed a crime taking progress, or remembering an important details related to business dealing, it just may be worth the 1500 dollars you spent to get a Google Glass.
Other application of google glass may provide utility on a daily basis. I can imagine getting 10 dollars worth of useful service from google glass everyday, and 5 dollars in security benefit for the surrounding society. Multiply that by 365 days which is 5475 USD in term of economic benefit every year. Don't forget to mention high value recordings such as record of criminal activities, abuse of authorities by cops.
(Of course, if you're too poor, than google glasses isn't worth 1500 USD even if it may be someday worth 1500 USD of value to you.)
Interestingly, Steve Mann coined the word Sousveillance
Recording in a public place in generally legal, but recording a private conversation, like a business meeting, is more complex. The laws vary depending on state (in the U.S.), and some states require the consent of all participants. I'm not sure that I'd want to wear a device that would expose me to felony charges if I inadvertently recorded some sensitive conversation that I didn't have permission to record.
Also, private property owners (like store owners) can eject you for trying to record video on their premises. There are some places where recording devices will never be welcome, such as movie theaters, sporting events and workplaces that deal with confidential information (e.g., a doctor's or lawyer's office, or even a start-up company whose product wasn't yet announced).
And I'm pretty sure that even Google wouldn't be happy if all their employees wore these to work every day. Would your work colleagues or managers speak candidly with you if they knew that their every word might be getting recorded?
>Would your work colleagues or managers speak candidly with you if they knew that their every word might be getting recorded?
If I recall correctly, there's a light visible on the outside of the eyepiece (the lens part) that's on whenever recording is happening. There will be no question if recording is going on or not.
It sounds like an inverse-need situation. Those who can afford Google Glasses probably live in neighbourhoods they aren't attacked at a high rate, whereas those who live in higher crime neighbourhoods can't afford it.
Will it help? Once criminals recognize the device they will either steal them or smash you in the face to destroy the evidence.
>>Once criminals recognize the device they will either steal them or smash you in the face to destroy the evidence
Such a system for security ought to have video storage inside a hard shell with a high speed 4G link, able to send the last minute of video/sound (with gps position) to the police at the push of a button.
The high speed link is probably a bit bulky (batteries) and will probably always be put into a pocket or something anyway, even without security considerations.
But sure, criminals could get some equipment to disturb mobile connections.
Glass does have a "high speed 4G link" - your smartphone.
I'm scared of a future where you witness a crime with video capable glasses on and be hunted for having the incident recorded.
If it becomes standard for that video to be continuously uploaded to a remote server, then hunting down the bystander would be entirely pointless. I think that's what we have to hope for.
1. You could still be targeted just for wearing such a device in the wrong place, then.
2. Do you really hope for each and everything you see to be uploaded to a remote server?
1. Fair point. I think I had in mind a future where these devices were in such common use that any bystander could be assumed to be wearing one. That might lead to greater targeting of all bystanders, but at some point I suspect criminals (or other privacy seekers) would just adapt and factor "avoid bystanders" into their plans in order to settle at about the same level of violence they do today (rather than routinely attacking every bystander they see). This may be over-optimistic.
2. I find it to be an intriguing idea, but one that does admittedly scare the bejesus out of me. Unfortunately, I consider it all too probable that near-ubiquitous camera surveillance is in our future whether we like it or not, and in that scenario I'd vastly prefer for individuals to have their own recordings as well rather than blindly trust that the governments and/or corporations running the other cameras will always act with my best interests at heart.
Regarding 2, I'd get it to constantly upload to my home server. Seems easy to write an app for and set up on my server with php or maybe a custom service.