[LINK] FW: Guardian launches 'augmented reality' specs to offer immersive liberal insight | Media | The Guardian

Tue Apr 2 08:14:52 AEDT 2013

[keep in mind the date yesterday]

><http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/01/guardian-goggles-augmented-reality-specs>http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/01/guardian-goggles-augmented-reality-specs
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>Guardian launches 'augmented reality' specs to offer immersive liberal insight
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>Alan Rusbridger, editor in chief, unveils the latest exciting step 
>in the Guardian's mission to harness the power of online media: 
>Guardian Goggles 
><http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/video/2013/apr/01/guardian-goggles-video>Link 
>to video: Guardian Goggles: because life's too short to think for yourself
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>You can already access 
><http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/theguardian>the Guardian in ways 
>that were unimaginable two decades ago: on your desktop or laptop 
>computer, a tablet, e-reader or smartphone.
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>But today, ending months of speculation and rumour, this newspaper 
>announces a groundbreaking development in the modern history of the 
>media: a pair of web-connected "augmented reality" spectacles that 
>will beam its journalism directly into the wearer's visual field, 
>enabling users to see the world through the Guardian's eyes at all times.
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>The motion-sensitive spectacles, known as Guardian Goggles, 
>incorporate translucent screens in the lenses, overlaying the 
>wearer's view of their surroundings with a real-time stream of 
>specially curated opinions from the paper's reporters, critics and 
>commentators. For example, simply by looking at the outside of a 
>restaurant or cinema and pointing, the user can call up relevant 
>Guardian reviews of the food or current films.
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>"For some time, our users have been telling us they want an even 
>more immersive Guardian experience, without the hassle of having to 
>reach for their phones, or switch on their iPads, and Guardian 
>Goggles are the answer," a spokesperson said.
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>"Now, when you're out shopping, you needn't have memorised our 
>recent features on ethically sourced foods. Just call up the 
>'Mini-Monbiot' app, and the products you're looking at will be rated 
>in front of your eyes."
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>Related software can detect the destinations featured in holiday 
>brochures, warning wearers before they book trips to countries with 
>problematic human rights records.
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>The spectacles also feature optional built-in anti-bigotry 
>technology, which prevents exposure to non-Guardian opinions by 
>blacking out columns by Melanie Phillips or Richard Littlejohn, 
>among other writers, as soon as the user attempts to look at them.
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>Media analysts predicted that the Goggles could have a tectonic 
>effect on the media landscape. "This is the easily biggest 
>development in news technology since 
><http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newspapers>newspapers opened 
>'virtual bureaus' in Second Life in 2006, transforming journalism 
>forever," said Paul McMullan, the former tabloid journalist who is 
>now Professor of Disruptive Thinkovation at City University in 
>London. "I frankly wouldn't be surprised if this were an even bigger 
>success than Google+."
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>Another Goggles app, currently in development, will allow readers 
>with strong feelings about postings on the Guardian's Comment Is 
>Free site simply to yell their objections out loud, for example in 
>the street, or on a bus. A voice-recognition system will then add 
>their opinions to the relevant web page within 30 seconds.
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>An algorithm designed to detect frequently recurring viewpoints -- 
>for example, that the Guardian should not be wasting valuable 
><http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/internet>internet space by 
>running blog posts about fashion or celebrities -- will enable those 
>to be added to the site even faster.
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>A still more ambitious project could see the G2 columnist and 
>psychotherapist Pamela Stephenson Connolly delivering sex-related 
>advice in real time.
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>A limited-edition designer model, evoking the shape of the letter 
>"g" from the Guardian's masthead, has been specially created by a 
>collective of avant-garde designers working in association with 
>Christopher Biggins.
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>Already the glasses, a limited number of which have been given to 
>prominent public figures for testing, have attracted a number of 
>high-profile fans, including at least one cabinet minister. 
>Meanwhile, a spokesman for St James's Palace said both the Duke and 
>Duchess of Cambridge were enjoying using the product, despite Prince 
>William's grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, suggesting that they 
>"looked like they'd been put together by an Algerian."
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>Guardian Goggles' impressive battery life enables them to be used 
>for up to three hours at a time. To facilitate easy recharging for 
>even longer periods of use, the paper plans to place unobtrusive 
>charging stations on street corners in parts of London, Brighton and 
>Bristol, where users may plug in their glasses without even needing 
>to remove them.
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>It is not yet understood how glasses-based immersive journalism will 
>be handled by the emerging new regulatory framework for the UK 
>media. But Hugh Grant said he would issue an authoritative ruling on 
>the question within the next two weeks.
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>Google Glass, a wearable-technology project blatantly inspired by 
>Guardian Goggles, but with added features enabling the user to make 
>creepy surreptitious video recordings in coffee shops, is expected 
>to go on sale to consumers in 2014.

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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