UPDATED 09:00 EST / DECEMBER 18 2013

NEWS

Google to introduce ‘wink’ photo capture in Google Glass update

Google is about to add a new feature to Google Glass that may well result in more establishments banning the device.

According to the company, Google Glass wearers will soon have the ability to take photos with a “wink of an eye.”

If you’ve ever watched the Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol movie, you might remember the scene where Jeremy Renner took photos with his glasses just by blinking.  This new capability of Google Glass is more or less the same thing, except users will be snapping away with just one eye.

Google claims that the winking gesture is faster than using the camera button or voice commands to take photos.  The feature will be introduced to Google Glass in version XE12, along with other new add ons such as a lock screen, Hangouts messages, and the ability to upload and share photos and videos on YouTube. Also, fanbois may soon rejoice as the iOS companion app for Google Glass is ready but it needs this update, which will be coming out this month, before it launches.

“Glass is about helping you look up and experience the world around you without getting bogged down by technology. Based on this philosophy, we’ve got a new setting that lets you quickly and easily capture the moments you care about with a simple wink of the eye,” Google said in its blog post.

“Whether it’s capturing an amazing sunset on an evening walk, or photographing your receipt for the lunch you’ll need to expense, you can now stay in the moment and wink to take a picture instantly,”

Google said it has more plans in store for the wink feature too.  Today might be all about taking photos, but soon it could do a whole lot more besides.  In its blog post, Google discussed the possibility of using ‘winks’ to facilitate mobile payments, such as paying your cab fare just by looking at the cab meter and winking at it. It also proposed other weird and wonderful tasks, such as being able to wink at a cookbook recipe and have the instructions appear right in front of your eye.

Google obviously wants to make our lives easier, but what kind of impact would a ‘winking’ feature have on our privacy and safety?

Winking is an inconspicuous act – few people will notice when you do so. This means that taking a photo simply by winking can pose a huge problem for people’s privacy.  When this feature rolls out, Glass Explorers will be able to snap photos of people, places, or events that aren’t meant for public viewing.  Imagine finding your face plastered on the Internet because someone took a photo of you without your knowledge?

“It is a remarkable progress of technology and the possibilities of innovation around it limitless,” Manoj Menon, managing director of consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

“However, it comes with new issues that we need to understand, not least the worries over security and privacy. There needs to be discussion about how, and in what environments, gadgets like these can be used openly,” he added.

Interest in Google Glass spiked as better features are introduced, and with a new version coming out soon, together with the Glass Development Kit (GDK) becoming available for developers, we can expect to see growing numbers of people wearing the device in the near future.


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