Google Glass and business: the outgoing train

Things that previously could be found except on the pages of science fiction novels are becoming increasingly firmly established in the daily lives of millions of people. Nobody can surprise anyone with a vacuum cleaner, and even small children can handle the iPad. Another innovative project from Google - Glass glasses, is also gradually starting to change the world we are used to.

Now the technology is available to developers, and customers will most likely have access to it in 2014. Google Glass glasses are equipped with a camera, a special navigation system, they can show alerts about new messages, they can respond to user commands and a lot more. But the most important thing for the business community is the ability to create applications that display information that complements the familiar world view of the owner of the device. This can change many industries forever.
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I must say that Google is not the first to change the way companies do business. If you recall, the search giant has already replaced the Yellow Pages directory, has done some weak damage to individual navigation systems and traditional e-mail applications, and so on.

Google products at the same time improve people's lives, make it easier for them to accomplish their work tasks and carry a threat to many businesses that do not always have time to adapt to a changing world. In the case of Google Glass, the situation will not differ by a millimeter - the one who manages to restructure and apply the new product and the opportunities that it opens up, will be able not only to survive, but to make a profit, and those who do not succeed can miss serious opportunities.

Penetration technology

Repeating the business model in the Mobile segment, Google opens the Glass platform for third-party developers. The company contributes to the creation of an ecosystem of applications that will ensure further penetration of technology into the daily lives of people.

In the end, Google Glass is not just glasses connected to the Internet, the usual analogue of smart watches, which have now been produced by a great many. No, this is a global platform for delivering digital services and products with breakthrough customer experience - the user can get what he couldn’t dream of before, and the service will actually be built into his everyday world.



With the help of Glass, each of us can ask questions and get answers on the line of sight, take photos, simply order glasses to do this, instantly translate from one language to another (very convenient when traveling!), Get a GPS route right before your eyes, and so on. This is real fiction.

But in which industries will Glass penetrate the fastest?

Who should strain

In fact, Google Glass can change dozens of industries from cinema to air travel. But there are areas that will be influenced in the first place. Here are just a few examples:

GPS

Generally speaking, the traditional GPS industry is already dead because of a whole heap? People have all the necessary applications right in the smartphone. Partly on the hand of companies developing their GPS projects, the fact that using the phone while driving in many places is prohibited, but Google Glass will soon fill this niche, plays into the hands.

The medicine

Just imagine the situation - the surgeon performs an operation, and right before his eyes, the entire patient's history - X-ray photographs, test results, information about possible allergies to medications, and so on. In addition, Glass can save many lives of patients who require complex operations, but surgeons who can do them where they do not live - now an experienced specialist can perform operations remotely with the hands of his colleagues who wear smart glasses.

Repair and housework

To repair the toilet bowl one does not have to be an academician, but still it requires some knowledge. Objectively, to do something with your own hands, when you need to constantly be distracted by paper instructions or manual on the Internet, is not so easy, it is easier to call a professional. But with the help of Google Glass, the “internet plumber” will be able to see where it’s necessary to stick right in front of you. Moreover, at the same time, you can call a real professional and act according to his instructions - after all, he will see everything with the help of the built-in camera.

Advertising

Google itself has stated that it does not plan to advertise anything through Glass, but smart glasses can drastically change the way people interact with brands and businesses. For example, Glass can tell a person that in a store that he just went through there is a sale today, or recommend him a cheesecake when he drinks coffee at Starbucks.



Google has a huge array of data thanks to its products like Gmail, YouTube, Google+ and, of course, search. Advertising on the Google Glass platform can be extremely personalized, so it is not surprising that advertisers are looking forward to the spread of technology.

Other examples can be found in this excellent post of Business Insider.

We are in Russia, what to do?

As always, all technologies reach our country a little late. There are currently very few developers in Russia who have access to Glass prototype and the SDK for creating applications, while American companies are in full swing creating prototypes.



This is an objective problem that immediately puts domestic companies in unequal conditions with foreign competitors, who, having created ottestirovav their applications in home markets, can easily transfer these business models to Russia and succeed here too.

In order not to be in the role of a passenger who runs after the outgoing locomotive, hoping to jump there at the last moment, when Google Glass will become a mass product, companies should now experiment and try to understand future scenarios of using technology in their industries. When smart glasses finally enter the lives of millions of people, knowledge and ability to work with this technology will not only protect the business, but also strengthen its competitive advantages, and maybe get new ones, reaching a new level of development.

If your company has an understanding that moving towards working with Glass is necessary and promising, the first step may be participation in the practical laboratory FABERNOVEL, created to dive into the subject of smart glasses and wearable gadgets, get to know the technology and create effective scenarios for applying technology together with our experts ...

This is, in many ways, a unique offer, so if you are interested, write to us.

But…

Like any new breakthrough technology, Google Glass is faced with many challenges that need to be addressed before everything we wrote above finally becomes a reality. First of all, it is necessary to solve some technical problems like battery life, reduce the cost of the device - at the moment the price is still somewhat higher than the one that most users can afford.
Of course, there are other problems, for example:

• Not everyone likes the design of glasses, and in this direction you should also work (by the way, Google has already agreed with Ray-Ban on the creation of frames and distribution)
• Confidentiality is an important point that will need to be somehow solved. Now there are many concerns that the use of glasses can damage the privacy of people. In some places, Glass has already been banned, as, for example, in Seattle.
• Debug APIs and third party interactions. Google will have to spend a lot of effort on building interfaces that will help third-party companies to provide services to their customers, using the wearable technology Glass.
• A small selection of applications. This is a given - currently there are very few applications for smart glasses. Glass will be able to truly realize its potential only when the application for points will meet the needs of customers and exceed their expectations compared to other products.

All this is true, but after all, once and the iPhone didn’t look so cool as it is now, and there were no hundreds of thousands of Epps in app stores for all occasions - from shooting evil birds to the counter of pregnancy contractions.

Google is working hard to develop its revolutionary project - the company conducts hackathons for developers, invites designers to collaborate and works on expanding the functionality of glasses. If Glass had been promoted by any other company in the world, then one could still say that the chances of success are less than those of failure. But we are dealing with Google, whose products have already killed quite a few businesses, and this cannot be ignored. So companies that are in the "risk zone Glass" need to act now.

The train is already leaving the station.