While Google Glass may not be widely available to consumers yet, it will be soon, and developers are already coming up with interesting apps for the device. As availability approaches, however, it’s becoming clearer that there will be a lot of society-implemented restrictions that come along with it.
We’ve already seen legislation seeking to ban driving while using Google Glass (and other similar devices). But it will certainly not stop there. NBC News has an interesting article about venues that won’t let you in if you’re wearing one. Vegas, in particular is one city where you’re bound to run into some problems. That goes for Casinos, but also strip clubs, as you might expect. Rosa Goligan reports:
“We’ve been dealing with the cellphone videoing and the picture taking over the years and we are quick to make sure that that doesn’t happen in the club,” Peter Feinstein, managing partner of Sapphire Gentlemen’s Club in Las Vegas, told NBC News, explaining that hosts check in any electronics a patron brings that could be used for filming.
“As the sale of [Google Glass] spreads, there’ll be more people using them and wanting to use them at places such as a gentlemen’s club,” Feinstein explained. “If we see those in the club, we would do the same thing that we do to people who bring cameras into the club.”
The movie theater is another place where you might end up having to check your Glass by the door (or at least leave it in your car), as Goligan notes. Major media corporations and film studios already have to deal with their content appearing illegally on sites that sometimes end up in search results. This could add another layer to their issues with the technology giant.
Beyond content protection, some venues likely just won’t accept the device for etiquette reasons. As we know, some restaurants have a problem with people using their smartphones to take pictures of their food. We’ve already seen some take issue with Glass in particular.
The Atlantic recently ran an article about a bar owner who said this on Facebook:
Last night around 9:45 two people walked into the bar. Looked me square in the eye, and acting as if everything was normal they ordered beers.. Oh did I mention they were wearing Google Glasses! In public! In A BAR!
Perhaps this was more a comment on the fashion aspect of Google Glass, but clearly the device is making some people uncomfortable. Perhaps that will change once it becomes widely available. Don’t forget, Google’s working on the fashion obstacle too.
If Google manages to make the device more closely resemble actual glasses, one has to wonder how easy it will be to enforce any action against them. I wonder how they’ll enforce the inevitable contact lens version. That glass-while-driving ban might run into some simliar obstacles.
Well, if the cops are wearing their own Google Glass, they might be easier to detect.