Google Glass failed and, with it, the smart glasses bubble popped. Ten years after the BBC dubbed the gadget a “fascinating failure”, the tech industry seems willing to give wearables another go – but will it ever be hip to wear a smartphone on your face? Backlash At their core, smart glasses are yet another way to present the humble app. However, the software format may have to undergo a facelift, becoming simpler and less distracting.
Mobile games have already made a step towards this new future. For instance, the “idle” genre requires little input on the part of the player. These titles prize the time the app is closed just as much as when they’re in the game.
Facewear is the ideal environment for AR games, like the type Niantic puts out, but other entertainment media may resemble its counterpart on smartwatches. For instance, slot machines found a home on the Apple Watch. The gameplay cycle of Luck O’ The Irish Fortune Play at Paddy Power is much more amiable to gesture and/or one-click controls.
Of course, the hit game is still available to play via a browser. Smart glasses may yet omit complex app functionality altogether. Think of the first smartphones, with a camera, voice calling, navigation, and nothing else.
Safety is a concern – humans have never been very good at walking and talking – but privacy issues could keep smart glasses lean to avoid some of the problems that sank Google Glass. The worry is that the latter was not a “covert device”, .
