WSVN — It's a futuristic world we've seen before, on the big screen. But now, interactive eyewear has become reality. Where a video…
Dan Sherman: "OK, Glass, record a video."
Phone call…
Ellen Schebor: "Hey. Yeah, OK."
Or directions, are no longer at your fingertips, but on your face.
Dan Sherman: "It feels like you are a little bit in a video game."
Get a good look at Google Glass, a hands-free device the California-based company hopes will frame the future of mobile computing.
Ellen Schebor: "I love them. It's surprising how fast, once this is on your head, you forget that it's there."
Miami's Ellen Schebor and Dan Sherman are software developers who attend Google's annual conference. They are two of a select group allowed to buy Google Glass before it hits the market. They paid $1,500 a piece, and have invited plenty of curious stares in South Florida.
Ellen Schebor: "I mean, you get little leaguers, out for ice cream, will come up and be like, 'Is that the Google Glass?' At the airport, I had a few people follow me with their eyes, like what?!'"
The glasses work without lenses at all, but reports say Google has a plan for people with prescriptions. The spectacles incorporate a touch pad on the frame, but is also voice activated.
Dan Sherman: "There is a tiny vibrator right there, that vibrates against that bone in your ear and lets you hear things."
What you see, whether it be the weather forecast or a video chat, is projected on a screen in the upper right corner of your field of view. Google Glass connects to the web through wi-fi or links via Bluetooth to your cell phone.
Ellen Schebor: "Google, where can I buy a ferret?"
There's also a 5 megapixel camera that can snap what you see.
Dan Sherman: "I can say, 'OK, Glass, take a picture.'"
Google's idea behind Glass: incorporate technology seamlessly into your daily life.
Dan Sherman: "It kind of allows you to interact with other people without taking that break to go to a cell phone."
But new tech can mean the potential for new trouble.
Carmel Cafiero: "I'm recording audio and video right now, but you can't tell, and that is raising some concerns about privacy."
The fear for some? That Glass wearers are always rolling.
Ellen Schebor: "I haven't noticed that kind of suspicious reaction. I think mostly it's just been curiosity thus far."
There are also questions about whether the device will be a dangerous distraction, and of course, parodies are already popping up on YouTube.
YouTube: "How do I make this go away? Watch where you're going, you idiot!"
Dan and Ellen say the technology is not perfect. For one, the screen is not easy to see in the bright sun. But they say it has potential.
Dan Sherman: "Think of what your cell phone could do today, compared to what it could do 5 years ago, and that's sort of the difference we'll see over the next couple of years."
While nobody knows yet whether Google Glass will be a hit or miss with consumers, Ellen is hooked.
Ellen Schebor: "Now it feels weird to take them off when I go to bed. You get used to them really quickly."
But will you feel the same? For now, you'll have to wait to see.
Carmel Cafiero, 7News.
Google will not say yet how much Glass will cost or when it will go on sale to the public, but reports say it could be as early as the end of the year.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.google.com/glass/start/
Read the Congressional Letter to Google:
http://joebarton.house.gov/images/GoogleGlassLtr_051613.pdf