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Is wearable technology just hype or is it the discovery of this century? What are some practical applications of wearable technology? Google Glass is expected to sell 21 million units per year by 2018. What is Google Glass? What are the risks posed to an individual’s privacy by the use of Google Glass?
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Technology enthusiasts do think that wearable technology is the discovery of this century. There are a number of practical applications, some of which I will list below:
1. Health and fitness-wise, wearable technology can monitor things like your heart rate, breathing rate, sleep quality, body temperature, and more, thereby giving its users fair warning before a serious condition occurs. As a result, average lifespan could increase, because we would know sooner when we're about to get a serious illness or another life-threatening problem.
2. Car insurance costs could go down due to drivers wearing smart glasses, which record the whole journey that is driven, and therefore will also record things like how a car accident occurred, who was at fault, etc.
3. If police wear smart glasses, it could increase security. For example, the smart glasses would take a photo of a person the officer is talking to, and if this person is listed as a wanted criminal in the police database, facial recognition could lead to the arrest of the criminal. Also, if a criminal were to try to hide in a crowd, the police could positively identify the criminal just by going into the crowd.
4. Skiers wearing ski goggles with Google Glass-like technology would be able to navigate ski slopes better in times where snow blizzards make visibility impossible.
5. Business men could easily set up business meetings. For example, if a boss has the smart watch, he can use it like a secretary, telling it what date and time to have the meeting, who to invite, etc., and the watch will then relay the information to the intended recipients.
Google Glass is a type of wearable computer that connects to Android and works much like an Android Smartphone, offering features like Google Maps, GMail, Google+, and more, as well as the ability to take photos and video like a smartphone.
There are concerns about privacy and security, however. As with a smartphone, for instance, there are concerns about what if your Google Glasses get lost or stolen.
Also, Google Glass comes with a facial recognition app, so that you can easily tag people you see for photos and such. The concern was that the software could also identify complete strangers, leading to an invasion of their privacy.
