The much anticipated Google Glass has been bestowed upon a few lucky candidates. With a release to the public expected in 2014, we examine their potential uses for emergency response.
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The product is still being tinkered with by some lucky developers, so all features haven’t been finalised. As I was not lucky enough to get my hands on one of the early release ‘Explorer Editions’ I have gathered my information from some reliable sources.
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Translate your voice
A problem responders face, is the inability to communicate with a member of the public in distress. A language barrier can increase the difficulty of dealing with a callout, Google Glass could bring an end to this problem. Although Google's existing product Google Translate is not perfect and one can assume similar technology will be used in Google Glass, a rough translation is certainly a better alternative than a blank stare.
Taking photos in a wink
With Google Glass, you'll be able to take 5MP photos and 720P videos. This offers a quick and easy method for taking photo evidence that can later be added to an incident report. The ability to seamlessly record response activities can offer huge reassurance and support if response activities are questioned.
Share what you see. Live
Coming from the Google + Hangouts technology, this feature would allow incident command to see what the responders are seeing as it happens. Increasing incident intelligence and allowing for the delivery of commands that are better suited to the situation. Lets hope the quality is high as I have found Hangouts to be a poor mans Skype.
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Directions right in front of your eyes
The inclusion of some famous buildings floor plans in Google Maps, leads me to speculate (because the temptation is killing me) that the miniature supercomputer by your eye will possess the ability to direct you through buildings. Although there are some similar offerings on the market currently. A mainstream super user friendly option has to be a mouthwatering proposition to many responders. The ability to get quick and easy directions also has great potential for helping SAR response.
Ask Google
Lets not forget that you will also have the ability to ask Google simple questions, retrieve images from search and altogether tap into the vast amounts of knowledge Google puts within everyones grasp. I believe Google have limited the amount of commands that the Glass will recognise, which I can understand as they want to avoid a Siri senario, where voice commands are often frustratingly inaccurate.
If you want to see a full list of specs click here. Putting response improving technology in the hands of responders is the reason we made Decisions [D4H] click here to learn more.
Marc Healy - [D4H] Emergency Response Team Software Crew
