What does the scouter say about his power level?

Imagine waking up in the morning.  You get out of bed, stretch, brew some fresh coffee and maybe pop some bread in the toaster before getting ready to tackle the day.  After you get dressed and ready to hop off to work, you grab your phone and keys, then shut and lock the door behind you, ready to face your day.  

Also imagine for a moment that, on your way to work, you encounter heavy traffic caused by road construction.  After you are late for work, the boss makes you get coffee for the whole office.  So you walk across town to the Starbucks, but find out it is closed for renovations.  What a terrible day this has turned into.

What if you were told by the Google fairy that there were magic glasses that could unlock the future and prevent any frustrations in your urban and modern life?  That is right; Google has been developing wizard-vision for us laypeople who must deal with the pressures of everyday society.

If you have not heard by now, Project Glass is Google’s newest attempt at daring God to smite those who seek to gain the infinite wisdom.  From what Google has announced, and according to their very hipster-friendly demonstration video they released, the glasses will be an augmented reality setup, giving the user a virtual heads up display (HUD) in their physical line of sight.  For those of us fortunate enough to be all too familiar with video games, think of having the map to a new place and stats about the current things you may be looking at to be superimposed over your everyday eyes.  

For example, when you go to the mall, you may be able to see the layout of the mall and where you are currently located, as well being alerted to any sales that may be going on, all with one look though the window at those cute jeans that the plastic manikin shows off so well.

But do not worry; there are actual beneficial reasons to using Project Glass.  Instead of being late for work because of that road construction mentioned earlier, a message could appear before you make that fatal left-hand turn into sure tardiness, alerting you of the construction and advising you of a detour.  

What if you just asked aloud “where is the nearest Taco Bell?” and the results appeared, along with maps and special deals that were going on at the restaurant.  What if all you had to do to learn about the weather was look at the sky, and a forecast would appear in front of your face, allowing you to make informed, concise and professional decisions?  Your boss will be impressed.  Your girlfriend will be impressed.  You will be Mr. Awesome and everyone will love you – or at least Google will love you for using their expensive new toy.

Some of the drawbacks to having augmented reality are pretty obvious.  Concerns arise such as getting bombarded by ads and information 24/7, and the possible health risks associated with that.  Not to mention driving while having your field of vision cluttered with apps and widgets, which could lead to new laws dealing with your cyborg parts.  What an age we live in.

From what it looks like, the glasses themselves are not the important piece, but the module that clips on the frame and handles all the actual data and projects the HUD on your eye-ware.

This means that everyone with prescription classes can clamp on their gear and be ready to roll.  Those of us who do not need glasses can get the special clear glasses with the module attached.  Whether or not the form factor is attractive enough for wearing in public is a matter of opinion.

But, they promised we would have moon colonies and space carnivals by now in the 1960s, so we could probably handle some Geordi La Forge fashion now.