Your company may equip you with Google Glass for your job

Business use for Google Glass—as opposed to personal perspective video of sporting events or your baby’s first steps—is gaining momentum. Google even held an event for interested businesses recently, recognizing that manufacturers like the idea of Glass for inventory programs. Glass could easily read serial numbers or barcodes with the eyeglass camera on an employee’s face, and that data could go directly to a central computer to monitor stock of just about any kind of product.

Hospitals are interested as well, not only to keep track of medicines, but also to aid in on-the-spot training, to send urgent notifications to staff, and for physicians physically present or at a distance to participate in surgery and care. Information, instruction, or notification pops into the field of vision of the Glass wearers, even as their hands are free to continue their work. It’s a new playing field for creative people, who are suggesting and developing apps, called Glassware.

Fidelity Investments has already jumped in. It has developed an app for its customers who wear Glass—granted, a limited group—to monitor the stock market in their field of vision as they go through their day. Do watch the video from Fidelity Labs that previews what it sees in your near future. And then watch it again, paying attention to the voice interactions and Glass notifications. Visually, it’s stunning, revealing to all corporate communication professionals what Glass-type technology can bring to our craft.

For workers always on the go, or hands-on something other than a keyboard, Glass offers completely new employee communication opportunities—especially if companies bring in Glass for other purposes, and employees become used to its features and delivery of content. Tool use does progress. Do you remember email before anyone was doing email newsletters?