Edit: To expand a bit, take an autistic adult that wants to do something, like go to the movies. It's simple for us, we wash up, get dressed, go outside, go down the straight, hope on the 132 Bus for 3 stops, get off, walk 2 blocks, pay for tickets, and go into theater number 5. For someone with autism, they can struggle with things like this. These glasses provide them with visual cues base upon their location, so when they finally do get to the theater, the glasses can show them what to do next, and give them that visual cue.

Currently working on an app for tablets for this sort of things, but having it work in glasses would be simply amazing. God, what I wouldn't give to be apart of this.

Also, though cool, the video is probably a pretty inaccurate representation of what that tech would actually get used for. It shows some guy getting directions, scheduling events, and meeting friends. Nice enough, but the reality is that, like most mobiles, it's probably more likely to be used for Facebook addiction and sending pointless text messages.

[I guess the answer is "yes", I'm becoming a Luddite.]

I remember when I got a Nexus One and tried showing off the Google Translate app to co-workers; one Japanese, one Portuguese, one Bosnian but it took so long to connect it was embarrassing. I managed to get some Japanese translated after about 10 minutes.

Now I have a Samsung Galaxy S 2 (translate still sucks) through my phone company it has HSPA+ (21Mbps) but I have yet to consistently get anything above 3Mbps, I tend to get 1Mbps.

Also imagine this in a movie theatre or some place where they claim everything is copyrighted place or even walking towards police in a country where taking video of police could get you arrested.

It seems simple enough but holy can of worms Batman!

They forgot to show the "Ukulele $350" ad that pops up when he looks at the book. Also, "Monsieur Gayno Boxed Set - $24.95", "Feet hurt? Try walking shoes from Reebok!" and "John Smith for Mayor! I'll make the trains run on time."

Ugh. Google, you have so many cool ideas and so little business acumen.

Google have many brilliant sounding pie in the sky ideas, but when it comes down to it they have to really ask themselves, will people actually be able to use this? Is it really worth chasing after this or will they concentrate their efforts and resources on other more achievable things.

Just like the Google tablet mock-up video vs reality. Anyone can craft a mock-up video. Not everyone can execute on it, and in recent years Google isn't doing well on that score.

I keep thinking of this problem when I hear about things like heads-up contact lenses and so on. It is a tremendous eyestrain for me to focus on anything within a meter, and so I'm often relaxing my eyes by looking away from my laptop at distant things. Within 10-20 cm or so it is extremely difficult to focus on anything; within 10cm it is actively impossible.

So are they really using a lens that can make a 1cm-away display look like it's 100cm away?

uhmm, am I not in the moment when I walk the streets without popup notifications on my eyes?

I guess the flip side of that coin is the massive surveillance potential if these glasses are controlled by a third party like mobile phones are; they're even worse than mobile phones because they spend most of the day on your head rather than in your pocket.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A6pD_FWmYxg/T3xUSvVz8LI/A...

(Seriously, even if it's still pretty crude...)

This is akin to eating junk food. There is an innate tendency in us to consume this sort of garbage (burgers, email updates), and it seems nourishing and useful in the short term, but over a longer range it may well prove disastrous.

Just like we learned to keep our instincts in check and avoid junk food, we may have to learn to keep the trivia-hungry part of our brains in a leash, and once in a while, or perhaps several times a day, purposefully unplug from the data hive and let the mind soar, roam, wander, or whatever it is that it wants to do.

So, I'd say, the answer is "no", you're not a Luddite, you're pointing out an important issue.

For an example of real-world uses of AR (that don't involve hipsters or food trucks) check this out: http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2009-10/augmented-r...

I guess once you get used to talking with anyone, anywhere in the world, and with so much access to any information you want, anything less seems like isolation.

Google does make a lot of money on advertising, but that's because it's impossible to not make money on advertising. Google could literally fire 99% of its employees and we would still make money on ads because it's that easy. You could probably start an ad company today and have a steady income next week. (You need a web server, someone with content to "monetize", and someone with an ad. Pretty simple.)

What's hard is figuring out how to make money once the easiest source of money dries up. (It's sort of like why we don't have solar-powered cars yet: because burning decomposed dinosaurs is so easy that any attempt to do something else seems impossible.) Future products you see from Google will be less about advertising and more about something else. That's why we have web browsers and open source projects and self-driving cars and space elevators. Try everything, see what makes us more money than advertising, then do more stuff like that.

But actually your scenario sounds plausible if Google was the most ignorant, narrow minded, child-like version of an ad network. If they have any smart people at all working at Google, I think that they would have a much wider, longer-term vision in which they can generate value from more than just bombarding you with ads in the most direct, obvious way possible. If they feel at all compelled to stay relevant and profitable for the longest amount of time possible, then they are working on that right now.