Kogod Gets Into Google Glass
The Kogod School of Business, The College of Arts and Sciences and the University Library at American University will be receive Google Glass as part of the cutting-edge gadget’s “Explorer Program.”
Erin Nixon, an AU student currently pursuing an MBA in the Kogood School of Business and self-described “Google geek” and “tech nerd,” entered an “If I Had Glass” competition one year ago.Making a case that “I could discover DC rather than looking down at map on my phone. Seriously, only so many times you can get lucky with traffic,” Nixon was ultimately chosen as one of 10,000 people invited to buy the product, and now she helped secure three new Google Glass headsets for AU.
Nixon believes that the whole idea behind glass is to get technology out of the way and truly streamline it into everyday experience.
“Rather than having someone looking down at their phone all the time, they wanted to have technology so that you could look people in the eye and have a conversation.”
Glass will be able to run a number of applications that will serve basic functions such as give weather forecasts, take pictures, record videos as well as the ability to track your whereabouts and learn your schedule.
Glass is also linked with a user’s Google account, giving users the full Google experience and compatibility. Those wearing Glass can access to email and Google+, photos or videos can be stored in Google+ for sending and sharing and the Google Maps feature can also be pull up for set-by-step navigation.
But what educational benefits can Google Glass provide for AU?
“Especially with new technologies, academics is always behind the ball. It’s always for-profit companies that go after new technologies to find a way to make money from them,” Nixon said. “But I see the applications in research and first-person interviews. When I was in social science, there were plenty of times I really wish I didn’t have to fiddle with a recorder.”
Nixon has also been able to use Google Glass for fun. During a Hawaiian vacation last year, she took pictures while surfing, hiking, and sightseeing.
“I was able to Google plant names that we just don’t have on the mainland. And understand how to say things in Hawaiian,” she said. “The interaction between the web and the reality is coming closer and closer, and being able to overlay the web on top of what you’re looking at is already a huge step forward.”
