How To Interact With The Device - Users Reviews

I bet you all have many questions on how to use Google Glass, how it feels or if it's user friendly. I've been in touch with some Explorers and I have read many reviews and want now to share this with you.

How to interact with the device

You first need to install the MyGlass app on your smartphone and tap a few choices to setup the settings and pair a new headset. When you activate Glass, a small screen is supposed to float in the upper right-hand of your field of vision. It takes a moment to adjust the spectral screen in your vision and feels a bit odd at the beginning, but you get used to it very quickly. The here is what you see : the time is displayed, with a small amount of text underneath that reads "ok glass". That's basically how you most of the time interact with the device. It's actually a two-step process : first you have to touch the side of the device (the touchpad) or tilt your head upward slowly, which "wakes the device up" and then you can start issuing commands by saying "ok glass" or scrolling down the options using your finger along the side of the device. You can scroll options by moving your finger backwards or forward along the strip, select by tapping and move back by swiping down. However, most of the interactions is done by voice.

Glass does all sort of basic things after you say "ok glass", such as taking a picture, recording or video, "play Michael Jackson" or get directions. The voice recognition works most of the time, but also sometimes doesn't, which can be confusing. The device doesn't always hear you properly or the answer isn't always appropriate. I would compare it to Siri - Apple's iPhone assistant. When the voice assistant gets it right, the device responds quickly and jumps into action. Sounds is also conducted through the bones as I mentioned it in a previous article.

The device gets the data through WiFi on its own via an Android device or iPhone, or it can also works via Bluetooth. This means that you can deal with a "no data situation". Indeed, a good data connection is obviously key for the device to function properly and losing data or experiencing slow data on a phone put the headset into a near-unusable state. Google however tries to work on this issue.

Users feel like the most interesting functionality isn't the search assistant but much more the access to realtime data. You can easily access to the weather, directions, or info about something you see. Recently golfers have even started using Glass to get a constant stream of information: yardages, live scorekeeping, wind directions and aerial hole views.

Hangouts are also a big part of Glass and you can start one by saying "start a hangout with" followed by the individual or Circle. You unfortunately can't start a public Hangout, which means you have to build those Circles asap. Explorers feel that Hangouts are a great experience as you're able to quickly share something you're seeing with friends. You can easily impress someone by looking up to an author's name or getting info on the last social controversy. Business users also enjoy grabbing pictures of receipts and having them synchronized to the cloud.

About the way it works, users really feel that the device is user-friendly, light, surprisingly comfortable and has an amazing potential.

Google Now

Google Now is an increasingly powerful part of the operating system, making recommandations based on where you go and what you do. The device saves your choices and habits and can then recommend something in a more efficient way. For example, Now will suggest you directions to go back to a place you've been earlier or to your office. It will also throw up a list of nearby restaurants at dinnertime. Explorers say that the suggestions aren't always perfect, but Now can regularly suprise you with a good understanding of what you want and need. You also can interact, once you get recommendations: you can tap on a restaurant to call or get directions. Early users regret that you couldn't pre-configure a bit more the device to get more accurate suggestions or informations.