Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is adding more music features to the highly anticipated Google Glass, giving users the ability to request songs or record what’s happening around them, reports Alistair Barr for USA Today. Google Glass hasn’t been officially released, but some early users, so-called Explorers, are already saying that the functions can change the way they work.
Google Glass music on the go
“We are dipping our toe into musical waters,” said Ed Sanders, head of marketing for Google Glass. “The ability to find and listen to music on the go is important to have as a feature for Glass.”
Even though Google Glass will be the first major piece of wearable technology, it will still compete indirectly with other mobile devices, including the iPhone and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s own Android, so not being able to listen to music would be a major strike against it. Users will also be able to ask Google Glass to identify music that’s playing around them or to record sounds for sampling later on, not that you can’t already do that with smart phones.
Google Glass video stream
Musicians who have used Google Glass say that being able to stream performances from their point of view gives them another way to reach out to their audience, and Cornell music professor Cynthia Johnston Turner has said that it gives her new ways of teaching conducting to students because she can give them visual feedback right away, instead of setting up recording equipment and eventually showing them a video.
Many of the Google Glass features are accessed by voice command, such as “Okay Glass, what am I listening to?” and performers won’t always be able to talk to at themselves while keeping an audience entertained, but we’re still probably scratching the surface of what Google Glass could be used for. Making a hands-free computer is different enough from anything we’ve had before that it would be a mistake to try to guess what applications it is best suited for until a larger number of people actually have their hands on it.
But if you thought seeing crowds of people staring at their phones was annoying, wait until they’re yelling commands at their glasses.
