Google Glass wearers may want to think twice before using their high tech specs out in public. CBR presents five real-life victims of Google Glass, starting with the most recent assault.
1. Bar
Photo: Sarah Slocum via Facebook page
A female tech reporter says a group of "Google Glass haters" attacked and robbed her in a San Francisco bar for wearing the $1,500 device.
Sarah Slocum, who writes for Newsdab, was demonstrating how the high-tech device works in a bar called Molotovs on Haight Street, 21 February, when she was "verbally and physically assaulted".
On her Facebook page, she said a man ripped it from her face and ran outside with it.
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She later recovered the Glass, which had video coverage of the attack, but she clamed someone else had stolen her purse and phone during the conflict.
Brian Lester, who claims to have witnessed the attack, said the people may have been upset about being recorded by the device.
2. Cinema
Photo: Shutterstock; chrisbrignell
An Ohio man was kicked out of a cinema and interrogated by federal police for hours because he was wearing a pair of Google Glass.
According to an account on tech website Gadgeteer, the man said he was questioned for two hours on suspicion that he was using the technology to record a screening of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
But he had no intention of recording the film and only kept the glasses on because they were fitted with his prescription lenses.
He said: "I tried to explain that he’s holding rather expensive hardware that costed me $1500 for Google Glass and over $600 for the prescription glasses.
"The response was that I was searched and more stuff was taken away from me (specifically my personal phone, my work phone – both of which were turned off, and my wallet)."
It was only when the federal agents found no evidence of a recorded movie in Glass that the man was free to go.
3. Driving
A woman said she was issued a traffic ticket by a police officer for wearing the spectacles while driving on a San Diego freeway.
Web and mobile app developer Cecilia Abadie was pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer in October 2013 on suspicion of driving 80 mph in a 65 mph zone. He then cited her for wearing a ‘visible monitor’ under vehicle code 27602, a charge usually issued to people driving while watching a television screen.
However, a San Diego court commissioner ruled in January 2014 that there was no proof beyond reasonable doubt that Abadie was operating the device at the time
4. Restaurant
Photo credit:Tedeytan, Wikipedia
A network engineer in Seattle was thrown out of restaurant after he refused to take off his Google Glass in November 2013.
Nick Starr, who was with his boyfriend at the time, was asked to remove the device at the Lost Lake Café after a restaurant manager told him customers were not allowed to wear it.
Star took to his Facebook page to complain about his treatment and suggested the manger who asked him to leave be held responsible.
He wrote: "She tells me that the owner’s other restaurant doesn’t allow Google Glass and that I would have to either put it away or leave.
"I asked to see where it was policy for Glass to be disallowed at Lost Lake. She said she couldn’t provide any and when asked to speak with management she stated she was the night manager."
5. Glass Hole
Mat Honan, a reporter at Wired who spent a year wearing Google Glass, posted an article that detailed his experience in December 2013.
He said: "I know that I’ve enraged people because I’ve heard them call me an asshole…’Look at that asshole,’ they say.
"My Glass experiences have left me a little wary of wearables because I’m never sure where they’re welcome."
He added: "I’m not wearing my $1,500 face computer on public transit where there’s a good chance it might be yanked from my face.
"I won’t wear it out to dinner, because it seems as rude as holding a phone in my hand during a meal. I won’t wear it to a bar. I won’t wear it to a movie. I can’t wear it to the playground or my kid’s school because sometimes it scares children."
Google’s Glass Explorer community last week released an etiquette guide of nine do’s and don’ts for using its device, which advises Glasss owners to be respectful and polite while wearing them.
For more information on putting Glass to use, check out CBR’s five real-life examples of Google Glass in action.
