Game Changer for Google
While much of the press after Google’s (GOOG) I/O conference was focused on the potential for Google’s entry into the Smartwatch market and its potential to challenge Apple (AAPL), we noted that the company teased conference viewers with a quick look at a prototype of new AR glasses that are about as natural looking as one might hope and still provide the features of current AR glasses. While the idea of ‘regular’ looking AR glasses was originally Google’s idea with the ill-fated “Google Glass” product concept, what underlies the style of the prototypes is their focus on utility, with Google looking to promote AR by making it more than a way to fit furniture into your living room. The company ‘focused’ on language translation as an application ripe for AR, where all of Google’s work on translation technology is incorporated in the AR glasses, meaning you get an instant transcription of the conversation you are having if you speak the same language, and a fully translated, real-time transcription in your language if the speaker is not speaking your language.
While this is a prototype, the effect of having a direct translation of a conversation is enormous in our view and while these glasses and the applications associated with them are not an actual product yet, the implications for AR for just this application are enormous. Merely by looking at a person during a conversation you can see the translated words in front of your eyes, which makes any conversation, regardless of the participant’s ability to translate, incredibly rich. Of course there will be detractors that will say you will miss the nuance that speaking other languages might give, but for everyday conversations, including ASL, the short video below opened our eyes to this game changing application for AR. Hopefully Google is far enough along to actually produce such a product sometime during the next few years as we believe it will have a last effect on both the AR world and those that face the challenges of speaking a single language in a multi-language world. If you are linked to a browser check on YouTube when you click on the link below, click on ‘browse Youtube’ to see the actual video.
https://youtu.be/lj0bFX9HXeE
While this is a prototype, the effect of having a direct translation of a conversation is enormous in our view and while these glasses and the applications associated with them are not an actual product yet, the implications for AR for just this application are enormous. Merely by looking at a person during a conversation you can see the translated words in front of your eyes, which makes any conversation, regardless of the participant’s ability to translate, incredibly rich. Of course there will be detractors that will say you will miss the nuance that speaking other languages might give, but for everyday conversations, including ASL, the short video below opened our eyes to this game changing application for AR. Hopefully Google is far enough along to actually produce such a product sometime during the next few years as we believe it will have a last effect on both the AR world and those that face the challenges of speaking a single language in a multi-language world. If you are linked to a browser check on YouTube when you click on the link below, click on ‘browse Youtube’ to see the actual video.
https://youtu.be/lj0bFX9HXeE
Google AR Teaser - Source: Google
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