Living with Google Glass, Day Three: Security Checkpoint

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div class="copy post-body" dir="ltr" itemprop="text" style="text-align: left;"><div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/glass-2013-04-24-619-25-1366916916.jpg" /></div>You might be inclined to think that airport security is not the best place to wear Google Glass. You'd probably be right, but given the amount that I travel it was pretty-well inevitable that I'd cross through some security checkpoint before the course of this testing would be through.<br /><div class="more-info"><br /></div>I'm honored to be part of the XPRIZE Visioneering conference this week, a gathering of incredible minds putting their considerable brainpower behind the creation of competitions to make the world a better place. But, to take part I'd have to get out to California, and that meant yet another long flight across the country -- and another trip through the full-body scanner. The question is, how would the folks at airport security react to it?<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VZ8q0m-pBFQ?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe> <br /><div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"></div>As it turns out, with curiosity. At 4:30 in the morning, few of my line-mates were awake or adventurous enough to ask about Glass, but the first security person I passed did. She'd never heard of Glass. When I told her what it could do -- take pictures, video, get navigation, even read emails -- her response was "Get out!"<br />The other security guards were similarly intrigued, but in a friendly, curious way. I of course passed them through the scanner along with all my other circuitry, though I almost forgot to do so. I had, in the course of barely more than a day, already become so used to wearing Glass that I had to be reminded to put it in a bin. You can experience that moment, along with the thrilling process of my shoe removal, in the video above. (Note: In case you're wondering, yes, it is legal to film in a security checkpoint so long as you don't record the computer monitors or interfere with the jobs of the security workers. I was very careful to do neither.)<br />This feels like a good opportunity to talk about the security of Glass itself, which is a somewhat complicated subject. Some aspects are quite good. Others are quite poor. Let's start with the bad: there's no way to prevent someone from picking up your headset, putting it on, and reading your email. They could also reply, make a call, take a lewd photo and upload it to Google+ ... you get the idea.<br />There's no concept of a secure unlock on Glass, which must be considered at least mildly disconcerting. Then again, it's difficult to envision an unlock method that is simple and quick enough to not kill the Glass experience. Voice recognition seems like the obvious solution, but talking to the thing every time you put it on would be a bother. A retinal scanner sure would be nice. Shame it doesn't have one.<br /><div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Living with Google Glass, Day Three Security Checkpoint" data-src-height="348" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/myglass-620.jpg" /></div>Other aspects of security are, thankfully, more comprehensive. Sign in to the MyGlass app and you can see on a map exactly where your headset is, which must be a sure sign such functionality is finally coming to Android phones soon. While you aren't able to deactivate a headset remotely (though Google can), you are at least able to factory reset the thing from afar.<br />So, while Glass seems perfectly capable of handling the scary situation of someone stealing your headset and running away with it, it's rather less able to fend off the office prankster who might post a picture of their posterior to your Google+ account.<br />Next time we'll talk photo quality, call quality and, most importantly, take you inside the helmet for a gorgeous ride up the coast. Assuming the battery life lasts long enough, that is.</div></div>

Living with Google Glass, Day Three: Security Checkpoint

You might be inclined to think that airport security is not the best place to wear Google Glass. You'd probably be right, but given the...

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Living with Google Glass, Day Two: Around the House

<div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;" trbidi="on"><div class="copy post-body" dir="ltr" itemprop="text" style="text-align: left;"> <div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/glass-2013-04-24-619-25-1366916916.jpg" /></div>"You look ridiculous." This was not exactly the reaction I was hoping to receive from my wife the first time she saw me wearing Glass. She was long-since asleep when I arrived late the night before, and so had missed my triumphant, technologically augmented homecoming. I confess Google Glass is a bit odd-looking, but my wife is even more of a hardcore Trekker than I am and I thought somehow this headgear would channel her deep-seated love for bizarre, high-tech facial appendages.<br /> Nope. She wasn't the least bit impressed. When she tried them later, she came around a bit, but spent more time saying the silicone grippers pinched her nose than reveling in the potential future applications of such technology. You can't please everybody.<br /> <span>My first full day spent wearing Glass would be a rare one: a full day working at home. Well, almost full. I had to make a run into town to take care of some business, which proved to be a perfect opportunity to spend more time experimenting with the navigation in Glass.</span><br /> From what I can tell so far, this is the most comprehensive aspect of the headset. You can select a destination in a few ways, speaking the address being the default. You can also search for a business by name or category and get directions that way, but if you have your Android phone paired, you can just use Maps normally and then, when asking for navigation, the phone will inquire whether you'd like to use Glass. In fact, I did.<br /><div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"> <img alt="Living with Google Glass, Day Two Around the House" data-src-height="348" data-src-width="620" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/04/navigation-prompt-620.jpg" /></div>You can select walking, driving or bicycling navigation -- sadly no public transport yet. Once you're going, your path is shown as a blue arrow over a scrolling map. It's being rendered in real-time, but it's important to understand that this isn't proper augmented reality stuff. You'll see the arrow pointing on a map where to go, but if you turn your head, that arrow doesn't swivel around to stay pointed in the right direction. At least, it doesn't yet, but I have a feeling that'll come in a future update.<br /> Now you'll note that I said above "if" you have your phone paired. Pairing with a phone is not necessarily a requirement for using Glass. The thing can work entirely over WiFi and, it's worth pointing out, that if you're pairing to your phone over Bluetooth, you'll likely need to add wireless tethering to your data plan. I'm a Verizon subscriber and will now be looking at an additional monthly cost just to use Glass. As if the $1,600 up-front cost weren't bad enough.<br /> So yes, you can in theory use Glass out and about with an iPhone or other device that has wireless data enabled, but if you want the full experience (reading and replying to texts, for example), it'll need to be Android. Thankfully, pairing to your Android handset is predictably easy. Just install the MyGlass app and select to pair to a new headset. It'll display a large QR code that you hold in front of Glass' camera and, in a few moments, you're good to go.<br /><div class="image-container" style="text-align: center;"> </div>As for my experience on day two, other than directions downtown and back, I honestly struggled to find a good use for Glass. I was typically standing in front of my dual-monitor desktop, so any notification that came through on my headset, I had already seen on my PC. I also answer my calls on Google Voice on my PC and couldn't really find a good reason to keep the thing perched on my head. At home, it just isn't that useful. So, I went and played fetch with my dogs and recorded that. I hope you enjoy.<br /> Next time: the joys of airport security whilst wearing Glass, and a discussion of the available, and the missing, security within the headset itself.<br /> </div></div>

Living with Google Glass, Day Two: Around the House

"You look ridiculous." This was not exactly the reaction I was hoping to receive from my wife the first time she saw me wearing...

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