Big news has arrived from the world’s dominant search engine this week on two fronts. Firstly the monolithic tech firm announced plans to finally realise every advertiser’s dream and sell space plastered to the eyes of consumers, and secondly there has been renewed speculation about a long-hyped TV service from the media giant.
So this year could very well see the arrival of Google specs, glasses that are capable of projecting images- from newspaper web pages to Facebook to films- onto the inside lens. As the New York Times understandably mused; if bluetooth headsets caused people to walk around talking to themselves then what on Earth will this new innovation do?
Regardless of the potential humiliation involved the possibilities are quite impressive, apparently. Whilst nobody is officially allowed to talk about the top secret project it’s thought that when wearing the glasses users will be able to have information linked to whatever it is they are staring at fed directly into their specs.
So for instance visitors to Manchester’s Town Hall, despite its current closure, could have details of its interior, date of construction and so forth projected before their eyes… along with advertisements for local brands.
No, that’s really not a joke, nor is it science fiction (though anyone who has seen John Carpenter’s They Live will have heard the sound of bells ringing). And on top of this there’s also a TV package that Google may be about to offer residents in Kansas City, USA. An application has been filed by the company to provide video services to residents in the locality, and if approved this could go live within the month. This is the same place in which a new, super-fast, fibre optic broadband service from the search engine is about to be launched.
Details are scarce at the moment, but in November The Wall Street Journal reported that Google was in talks with Time Warner, Disney, and Discovery Communications about content for a fibre-optic video service. Four months later and it looks likely these plans will come to fruition, with on demand, live TV, and online access to channels all expected to be included. Interesting times ahead then.