While Google X prepares to develop new types of wearables, critics of the trend say the gadgets might pose a threat to people’s privacy in the not so distant future. Google X’s chief, Astro Teller revealed in an interview that Google is planning to release additional wearable gadgets, besides the already popular watches and glasses.
Google X is the rather secret branch of the company, devoted to major tech innovations.For Google, wearable means a whole range of items.Future developments in the area might concern key areas like personalizing the environment one comes in contact with including vehicles, mobile phones, computers or houses.
According to Teller, on the one hand there are devices developed for a sole-purpose, like pedometers and, on the other hand there are the Google Glass, Apple Watch and Android Wear. The last are very likely to become next-generation devices for all sorts of general ends.
The official additionally mentioned that tech innovations can contribute to the creation of wearables that might eventually replace glass and metal pieces we are presently using. For instance, at this moment Google X is doing a research aiming at producing rings that will train human cognitive functions for navigation through small vibrations.
Teller strongly supports high-tech evolution and contends that desktop processing and apps like WordPerfect and VisiCalc are already starting to lose value for today’s consumers. According to him, Google and Facebook managed to outsmart them.
Teller specified that wellness and health could be the best areas to advance wearables among the general public. The official believes that those who value physical exercise and wellbeing would be more inclined to frequently use a smart band.
Critics fear that, a few years from now, wearable gadgets may record a person without any obvious indications leading to the end of privacy. Gartner, a business analyst company recently published a report concerning smart wearables. The document also makes some spin- off forecasts.
As indicated by the research, it is very probably that by 2017, 30% of wearable gadgets will be totally inconspicuous to the eye. Also, by 2018 head-mounted displays will become a standard and the market will flow more the 25 million gadgets. More importantly, a significant number of these recording gadgets won’t be as recognizable as today’s Google Glass, or even the forthcoming Apple Watch. Numerous devices will be mistaken for completely standard eyeglasses, watches, bits of adornments, or even contact lenses.
Image Source: The New York Times