As you can see from the pics, Team CBR got its hands on Google Glass this week – the first time we’ve been given chance to have a proper play about with the device.
The £1,000 gadget was kindly loaned to us by luxury online travel agency, holidaysplease.co.uk, which has bought in a couple of pairs with plans to lend them to customers to help improve their holiday experiences.
Holidaysplease’s marketing director, Charles Duncombe, who brought the Google Glass into our offices, said: "We think that, provided the glasses are used responsibly, they will prove to be a tremendous addition to your holiday experience."
Of course, one particular question mark over the device is privacy invasion. Considering a video of me, filmed with Google Glass, was easily and sneakily uploaded to Facebook just minutes after I handed the device to one of our reporters, I can certainly understand the concerns.
With privacy in mind, all Holidaysplease asks is that customers follow a few simple rules:
– Don’t use the glasses to record nudity, content of a sexual nature, violence or other content likely to offend.
– Respect the privacy of others and don’t film people so as to make them readily identifiable unless with their permission.
– Don’t use the glasses in places where people will not want to be filmed such as places of relative undress (beaches, pools, spas etc..) and other private areas such as toilets.
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But having spent the past 24 hours getting to grips with Google Glass, the potential benefits for holidaymakers are clear, with an array of useful apps available that people will be able to use to help with the likes of directions, currency exchange rates and language translation, not to mention taking quick holiday snaps and videos. We’ll be delving into this in greater detail in an upcoming article.
In the meantime, CBR reporters continue to experiment with the Google Glass in an effort to find out exactly how it could benefit our lives – particularly in the world of business – in the years to come.
Keep an eye out for more updates about our hands-on experiences with the device over the next few weeks and, as soon as Holidaysplease can wrestle them back off of us, they’ll be able to start lending them out to their clients!
