Austin's Google Glass Videos

The experience of getting to use Google Glass for multiple projects was very interesting. I have never used a device like that, but I quickly learned how valuable it can be for first-person video. Here are my three videos I made:

1. Phase 1: Video with photo slideshow




2. Phase 2: Process Video




3. Phase 2: Glassumentary



4. Tweets

Here's a video I made of a basketball workout by @coler24 of @LehighMBB while wearing #googleglass http://t.co/7130xy5jWF #J230

— Austin Vitelli (@AustinVitelli) May 2, 2015

The @LehighU Theatre Department is presenting Escape: Three One-Act Plays right now. My video on rehearsals: http://t.co/FZgmgAEaOZ #J230

— Austin Vitelli (@AustinVitelli) May 2, 2015

Response

One of the hardest parts of the process for these videos was thinking of something that would be visually interesting through Google Glass. Even if something is interesting to watch with your own eyes, it may not present well with Glass. I think I did a good job of finding things that looked interesting from first person, especially with my process video of the guy playing basketball. Editing the videos together wasn't too difficult, although I would end up with huge clips of footage because whenever I would put the device on someone else, I would just have to keep the video playing while they were doing their thing. I couldn't interrupt or have them keep pressing start and stop, as that would be frustrating. So sifting through all the footage took a little while.

I can definitely see this fitting into journalism in the future, although only for select things. There are definitely situations where it'd be more of a hassle using Google Glass than just pulling out a smartphone and taking video. Since Glass has a poor battery life and just average camera quality, it still has a long way to go. Still though, close up actions or things that would normally be difficult or awkward to film with a camera/phone would work great with Glass. I think it still has the problem of not enough people knowing how it works, and therefore it creates a discomfort in the common person. Before it can be a regular thing in journalism, it has to get over that hump.

Even though Glass is on hiatus, wearable technology is still growing and will likely continue to grow in popularity until it's a regular thing. I think a new and improved version of Glass will make it's way into this market. I'm not sure of any wearable technology out there that mimics this experience, although the experience in general of using this type of device is valuable because it allows you to think about video in a different way than with a phone or camera.