Taking a photo with Google Glass just got even easier. The hands free device was designed to enable users to take a photo, of whatever they are looking at, by using a simple voice command. “Ok, Glass take a picture.” To me, that sounds pretty easy. That being said, someone has already found a way to improve upon the ease of use for photography through Google Glass.
Mike Giovanni (who works at Roundarch Isobar) has released something called Winky. It allows uses to take a photo through Google Glass by winking. The voice command would no longer be necessary. Just wink, and Google Glass will take a photo. He posted information about Winky on his Google + page, along with the link where you can grab the code.
I haven’t quite decided whether or not I am comfortable with the idea of Google Glass. In some ways, I can see where Google Glass is basically a hands free improvement over what people already can do with a smartphone. People take photos with their smartphones all the time.
My best guess is that the majority of photos taken with smartphones are of whatever people had for lunch or dinner, or possibly of cats. There is an abundance of cat photos on the internet! In other words, I figure that most people are taking harmless photos. Somehow, though, the idea of connecting the act of winking (which people typically use to flirt with someone) to the act of taking a photo, just feels creepy.
To be clear, I do not believe that Mike Giovanni designed Winky as something that would be used in sneaky and ethically questionable ways. His post mentions a “lifelog”, and I can see where Winky would make doing that a bit easier and how it would streamline the process.
My concern is not with him, or his intent. Instead, I am worried about what other, morally challenged, people would use Winky for. Is the person over there who is wearing Google Glass winking because he had something irritating his eye, or because he was secretly taking my photo?
Image Stock Photo Businessman Winking At You by BigStock
