WHILE the conversation about whether artificial intelligence will ultimately be a force for good or evil rages on, an independent optician on a quiet street in Carlisle has just unveiled one of the first iterations of a startling, but rather fun, new piece of tech in AI glasses.
D and D McWilliams, on Church Street in Stanwix, is the first retailer in the area, and one of only two in Cumbria, to bring the Even Realities G1 Augmented Reality Glasses to the market in October, and manager Katie Shuttleworth kindly agreed to let me go along to try them out.
Rather excitedly, I went with no preconceptions, other than my mind subconsciously flicking back to seeing the world through the eyes of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original Terminator film back in the 80s.
Not that I had it in mind that they would compel me to steal motorbikes and slaughter half of Carlisle, but yes, I am that old, and as such, I do wear glasses to read, and the first thing that struck me when I saw them and picked them up is how innocuous the pair looked.
Available in grey, green or brown, they are clearly not designed to stand out, for obvious reasons that become clear when you start to delve into the various features.
Guided by Katie, the heads up display (HUD) that is the display visible to the wearer is only visible with head movements and position, and appears in a subtle, but crystal clear green.
Only the information appears lit, so there is no background light, so it blends pretty seamlessly into reality.
Immediately, the main display in the top corner my vision showed the date, time, weather, and temperature, with notifications such as text messages also popping up.
The glasses are mainly used with the help of the app on your smartphone, which unlocks other features.
A navigation system for example, which is essentially a Google Maps-style navigation system.
As somebody that detests appearing to be a tourist, even when that’s exactly what I am, I could see the appeal.
There is a teleprompter function, which could be invaluable if you want to confidently deliver a speech without fear of forgetting any – this appears as text which slowly scrolls down at just the right pace.
Obviously (or maybe not as I asked the question), the display you see through the lenses is in no way visible to anybody else – hence the idea of the glasses looking like, well, just glasses.
Another function where this would be important is the live language translation feature, which for me was the most exciting of all.
You can set on the app which language to translate from and to, so no more wondering if that Spanish waiter is mocking your special holiday shirt or your pathetic attempts to ask for two beers - you’ll know exactly what aspect of your presentation they are deriding.
While there are obvious practical benefits to instantly understanding any foreign language, the limitations of it makes one wonder about the potential future of this type of technology.
Being able to hold a conversation wouldn’t be possible, as the technology doesn’t allow for providing a response in said language.
There would be clunky ways to achieve this, but unless you were both using the same technology, to a complete tech novice such as myself, the concept seems some way off being possible in this format.
There would be a certain satisfying smugness for me though, about surreptitiously having all of this information to hand.
One potential game-changing use for this though, as Katie pointed out, would be for people that are hearing-impaired.
Having very little knowledge of what is currently available in this field, the glasses make it possible to have English-to-English translation for example, so you would be essentially seeing subtitles when somebody is speaking to you.
The glasses also have buttons on the right or left side of the glasses, near the temple.
The right button brings up notifications that you may have set through your app – a shopping list, for example, while the left button activates the 'AI' feature.
This allows you to ask a question to be answered on your HUD, from simple things such as asking what tomorrow’s weather will be like, or for information on a certain person or building.
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What definitely did not occur to me instantly was that some immoral crooks and vagabonds could use this in a pub quiz.
As far as battery-life goes, the glasses can be charged in their case, and last, according to Katie, roughly a day and a half, depending on usage.
Anyway, the cost.
A non-prescription pair would start at £679, and prescription glasses would start at £209 on top of this.
Are they worth it?
If they are in your budget, absolutely – at the very least they are a fun piece of kit to have, and the technology does seem like the logical next step from looking at our smartphone screens constantly, and is certainly easier on the eye.
Not all of the features of the phone will be useful to everyone, but everyone would certainly find at least one feature game-changing.
Certain ethical considerations do arise, as I touched on earlier, but as with anything, once the technology is here, it is invariably here to stay, so why not be at the forefront of it?
This is clearly a concept with massive potential. That being said, it is quite clearly a technology in its mainstream infancy, and one imagines that (and this is pure speculation) now this is out there, upgrades will come to the market on a fairly regular basis.
But in the meantime, if you can afford it, what's not to like?
Katie spoke of her excitement at bringing these glasses to the market.
She said: "We have always strived to remain at the forefront of technological advancements while providing the highest possible standards of clinical excellence.
"We're really proud to be bringing this amazing new technology to the area.
"It's a huge jump forward in terms of what eyewear can offer a patient."
"There's so much potential with what these frames can do.
"We expect that technology focused eyewear is only going to continue progressing and we hope that it will be able to open doors for people in all walks of life."
To find out more about D&D McWilliams Opticians or to book an appointment, visit www.dmcwilliams.co.uk
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