Sunday, September 8, 2013

The Camera On Google Glass: The Good And Bad.



I've been overall very impressed with the photo quality of Google Glass. In the right light, the photo is, in my opinion, comparable to photos taken with my Nikon. The colors are rich and the textures are captured nicely.



This is where I use Google Glass the most. I take lots of photos and videos of my kids. Yesterday, we went on a hike and I brought Glass along.

It was cool to be able to walk around with three kids in tow and film our little adventure. I have a 2-year-old, so she needs a hand on her at all times. I couldn't have done that with a phone in my hand recording and still get the shot I wanted. The convenience of Glass was awesome. I took a few videos along the way:


The one issue I see with Glass is that where there is direct sunlight on the subject, there's almost a glow that comes off of them and the colors wash out. I know this isn't a problem unique to Glass. I wish there were something in Glass that could adjust to extreme brightness and even out the sunlight. If you watch the video, you will almost see a glow coming off of my son's bright yellow shirt. While it's nothing that ruins the video, it lessens the quality of the video for me. There is a shimmer of light coming off of him. It reminded me of how the vampires in 'Twilight' glow in the sun. (Yes, I took my niece to see the movie. No, I didn't enjoy it).

I also wonder if the glowing issue was just the scene - we're in a darker area of the woods with a burst of light coming in directly where my kids were standing? I've taken other outdoor videos that have been just fine, as you can see below:



Another thought I had yesterday was how it would be cool for Glass to have something in the actual glass part that is like the Transition lenses. As you go out into the light, it dims. I know we have the Maui Jim clip-on sunglass frames, but I didn't want to use those since it was darker in places we were in the woods. I don't know if having something like this built in would work, but it's a thought. I have found that the screen is hard to see in bright sunlight or bright rooms. If I do not have my frames on, I find myself holding a hand up in front of Glass to better see. Below is a photo of how Transition glasses work.


On another subject, I still cannot tether Glass to my Samsung Galaxy S4. I had to go buy a portable internet device to connect and am paying a monthly fee for 5G of data. I still fully believe that, when they're released publicly, they need to be stand-alone. I don't think many people will necessarily want to eat into their phone data plan to connect Glass. I am lucky enough to have unlimited monthly data, but a lot of people do not.   

I am very excited that Google has announced a stand-alone Glass App Store. Mashable: Google Glass To Have App Store  This is a great thing for Glass and reinerates the stand alone aspect of Google Glass. The fact that you may not have to depend on your phone for anything will make Glass more marketable. I wouldn't want to buy a product that only does a portion of what I need it to do. I don't want to have to drag my phone out of my purse to use and app that Glass doesn't support. I'm excited to get a peek at the app store once Googles rolls that out. I do think that gaming will be quite difficult on Glass, so I'll be interested to see if Google develops games unique to Glass.

I am excited to see the development of Glass before it "goes live".  The cool thing is that, as a Glass Explorer, we get to watch the evolution of a revolutionary product. I do know that the final version of Google Glass will probably be much different than the ones we have now. The nice thing about this blog is the interaction I get on Google + with other Explorers and how they often times confirm my opinions or even share tips and tricks to solve problems I may be having. There's a lot of changes that need to happen before it is ready for prime time, but I know Google will release a stellar product in the end! 

Keep on keeping on, Glassmates! 

Edited:

Some say that their Glass does dim in the sunlight. Mine does not. I wonder if this is a flaw in my Glass? I'll have them checked out when I am in NY next week! 




1 comment:

  1. I liked this a lot. I thought it was a very fair review of how Glass works as a camera and how it could be improved. So keep that in mind, I really liked this.

    That said, I do have a few comments on it. Glass already does have the transition lens on the front face of the prism to help. The other thing I thought I would point out is that unless it had its radios to make it a standalone device lower than your head, it would be extremely dangerous to wear as often as it is meant to. I don't think it would even make it through FCC. So for now and most likely forever tethering is the way to go.

    I am curious to see if I can help though. What network are you on because the tethering problem most likely is related to that. I heard AT&T put some things to block it from working and I know Verizon has taken action to make it more difficult.

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