Sergey Brin's demonstration of sky divers wearing Google's glasses was cool. (See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7TB8b2t3QE&feature=youtube_gdata_player) The introduction video of the glasses was also cool. (Intro video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c6W4CCU9M4&feature=youtube_gdata_player).
What can the glasses potentially do for us? The glasses essentially displays the web in our peripheral vision and could potentially provide feedback in multimedia format. So, you could have a map showing you where you have to go while you are walking. You could gather data on any object/person/entity/institution on the fly when you approach it or see it or hear someone talk about it. This information could either be read out to you or can be read while you are engaging in other tasks in your 'real' world, in contrast to the 'virtual' world. There is absolutely nothing unavailable to you at your finger tips (rather your eye lids) when you put on your cool glasses.
Now isn't this all good? Yes and No.
Yes, because you now have access to the web and everything related to it without having to pull your smartphone out of your pocket and looking at that while walking. The glasses let you interact with the real and virtual world simultaneously. You could be making better decisions, buying better and cheaper products, and the benefits such as these are almost endless.
No, because of a host of similar reasons. You could be subject to tons of ads for products/companies you are close to, coupons for stores/services you are approaching, and a never-ending barrage of unsolicited messages. Any one can gather pretty much all public information about you by just seeing you (the glasses could potentially take a picture of yours and find everything about you from google's vast databases), knowing where you are and what you are doing. Similarly, one could gather potentially all information about your home by just looking at.
Of course, on-road distractions will increase, multitasking would be required, and attention will be divided among several competing tasks. This, of course, appears to be a good recipe for more accidents on road and other cognitive problems.
What can be done? By limiting the functionality of glasses, Google can address some of these concerns. However, this isn't a solution that will be acceptable to consumers themselves. I guess, we just have to accept the further stripping of our privacy by this more convenient product/service.
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