Newsletter
So everyone’s heard of Google Glass, right? It’s frequently in the news, often for all the wrong reasons, which makes this story a little different, and much more pleasurable to write. A while ago, Google ran a competition called “Giving through Glass”, in which non-profit organisations were given the chance to show how Google Glass would enhance their efforts to make a difference in people’s lives. The five winners were announced earlier today.
The five winning non-profit organisations are:
3000 Miles to a Cure, heading across the U.S. by bicycle to raise awareness and money to aid brain cancer research. The use of Google Glass will enable its supporters to experience the journey through a racer’s eyes, helping the supporter to feel more involver. The racer will receive encouragement by seeing the notifications of donations and support via the Glass device.
Classroom Champions, who help students in high-needs schools to fulfil their potential, using Google Glass will help the students to see through the eyes of paralympic athletes as they train, enabling the kids to see what is possible, to see opportunities rather than closed doors.
Women’s Audio Mission will use Google Glass to create a more immersive lab experience for women and girls in the Bay-area, with instructors providing training in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math via their music and media based program.
Hearing and Speech Agency, who will use Glass to promote and research new ways of communicating with people who have speech difficulties, hearing loss or autism as well as supporting their carers.
And finally, the Mark Morris Dance Group will help people with Parkinson’s disease get about their daily lives, with the development of a Google Glass app that will aid with body movements.
Not only will the winning participants a pair of Glass and a $25,000 grant, they will also be visiting Google’s Glass Base Camp in San Francisco to take part in training, as well as having access to Glass developers who will help bring their ideas come to fruition.
It’s not often that you read about Google Glass in a favourable light, you either love it or you hate it, depending which side of the privacy argument you fall on. With politicians and businesses seemingly terrified of how Google Glass will impact on our daily lives, it’s a welcome change to share news on how Google Glass can improve lives, if given a chance. How would you use Google Glass to improve peoples lives? Let us know in the comments or at our Google Plus page.