Pinpoint necessary data to appear right in front of your eyes

Your pocket isn’t convenient enough and data is too monstrous to scan. Those are two reasons why Google Glass is “inevitable” in the workplace, according to analytics author Chris Taylor, who blogs at Successful Workplace.

“It’s only a matter of time before ‘line of sight’ becomes the primary place for everything we care most about,” he writes. “It’s only logical that we’d put what matters most in the place where we can digest and use it immediately…continually in front of our eyes.”

The most immediate example he uses in his blog is in the health care arena, also the topic of a previous Gaze Further blog post.

Besides being visual and hands-free, wearable computing, Taylor points out, meets our expectations of getting information we need or want anywhere, anytime. He says that especially at work, a phone in your pocket isn’t convenient. Powerful analytics provide the capability to deliver what matters most, rather than manually scanning large amounts of information to glean important data.

Those views are through the eyes of a data cruncher: Don’t give me too much information; give me what I need. And, don’t make it so hard for me to get to. That sounds an awful lot like the feedback employee communicators hear: There’s too much information for me to pay attention to. And please deliver it by the channels that appeal to me.

How does it look through the eyes of a digital creative agency? Purple, Rock, Scissors put together a demo about Glass in daily life, including shopping, exercise, entertainment, instructions, and home security—even how to find where you parked your car. This short video answers the question: What can Glass do for you?

What would you want Glass to do for you as you go through your day?

• You could ask how many employees so far have viewed your morning post on the intranet and receive the count every minute, five minutes, 30 minutes, or whatever you chose.

• You would get a notification that you’ve just typed “that” instead of “than”—something spell check didn’t catch but Glass can see.

• You’re on a conference call with half a dozen people from your company’s regional offices. You don’t know them that well, so sometimes it’s hard to distinguish their voices and know who is speaking when. Glass can flash the photo with the name and job role for each individual each time he or she speaks.

• You could get a notice when someone shares your Yammer or Facebook post on a particular topic, even as you are walking back to the office with coffee in one hand and a donut in the other.

• Get the camera out of the way. As you interview someone as part of your content creation, go ahead and get photos at the same time while the individual is relaxed and conversational. For that matter, leave the tape recorder behind if you are still using one.

• Wondering if your favorite user experience analyst is in one of the pods on the collaboration floor? If so, please provide visual instructions through the maze of modules to find her.

• As you’re making a presentation to your professional association peers and you mention a book title, the author’s name appears in your line of sight just to make sure you remember it.

• While you’re driving home and wondering if you really need to stop by the dry cleaners, too tired to remember what’s on your calendar for tomorrow, you can ask out loud and get an answer as to whether you need to wear a suit tomorrow because of any high-level meeting.

I’ll be thinking about it over the next few days. You think, too, and share your ideas. What would be totally awesome for Glass to do for you? Glass is in development stage, and Google wants input on ways people would really use it as part of their workday. 

(Reminder: I do not work for Google or receive anything from the company, not even a free T-shirt.)