Subscribe
About

Personal choice

David de Villiers, who heads up a mobile payments company and is launching Zapper - a new mobile payments app - says he moved heaven and earth to get his hands on Google Glass. It's more than a geeky toy, however: since he focuses so heavily on mobility, he argues, he must be at the forefront of any new developments in the mobile space.

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 08 Apr 2014

I got my Glass...

I had been trying to get my hands on the latest innovation from Google for a while and at last my extensive lobbying with everyone I knew who could be remotely connected to Google paid off.

I now find myself the subject of jealous looks as I walk around the office connected, if somewhat distracted. People started queuing in front of my office for a chance to experience the Glass.

I had to learn to say 'Hello Glass' in a twangy American accent. I said, 'Okay, Glass, take a picture,' and it instantly photographed what I was seeing. The first photo I took was receiving comments on my Google + page within four seconds.

Facebook and Twitter feeds are suddenly streaming in. Driving with Glass and Google Maps as a heads-up display is very useful and having a handsfree with you all the time is very cool.

The most interesting part of the experience is to see people's reactions to the tech on my face. Quite a few see it as an intrusion and aren't happy that all activity could be video-taped without their knowledge. Others don't think you're being attentive as you're bombarded by social media.

What interests me most is the next wave of applications for Glass: what other life experiences will be enhanced by having technology so intimately part of the interaction in the future?

I for one can't wait to see what additional value Glass can bring me.

First published in the April 2014 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.

Share