A Photogenic Generation

Image courtesy of Google.com

In early April Google announced Project Glass,the creation of augmented reality glasses. Although Project Glass isn't exactly stylish in a category dominated by apple the technology is both forward thinking and incredibly exciting.

The augmented reality glasses are multi-functional allowing hands free interactions through the glasses and Google promises eventually contact lenses. The lofty concept video demonstrates functions that are currently not official applications of the glasses: answering e-mails, displaying reminders and GPS mapping. Despite the fact that these unofficial apps are not currently part of the project, knowing Google we can expect that at least some of this functionality will be fully blown out in future.

Currently, Google has confirmed that the first model of glasses will enable the user to take photos. Although this appears to be a minor progression; the difference between the augmented photos and regular camera photos is what makes Google such a leader in the tech segment. The glasses will not only be able to take photos, but take them and share them from our OWN perspective and point of view.

Twitter and Facebook have given us the ability to share our lives but to literally be able to share our view point, now that is a revelation. And if the 250 million photos uploaded daily to Facebook are any indication our voyeuristic side will win out over any qualms we may have at sharing something as intimate as our view of the world.

As Google announced their 'Project Glass' in April, Facebook, almost simultaneously, announced the acquisition of Instagram. Google and Facebook seem to have competing, but similar photo apps.

The difference between Google's Project Glass and Facebook's new photo platform is the interest of the user. While Project Glass takes photos from one's personal perspective, Facebook's picture apps allow the user to alter their photos to suit their perception of the image.

Every day more and more users take photos to upload on their social channels, both private and public. But what drives this behaviour?  Is it the desire to share photos that are perfected and altered to suit our perception or do we simply want people to see the world through our eyes? While there is no obvious, or forthcoming, answer to this question it is worth thinking about. What is it that makes people want to share so much of themselves so often.

When Google releases Project Glass I think that we will see a split between those users who choose to share raw images from their view point and those who prefer to lend artistic license to their vision.





- Erica - Erica is currently an intern with the Cap C team and we are delighted to have her input on our blog.