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posted by cmn32480 on Thursday July 23 2015, @09:35AM   Printer-friendly
from the like-a-bad-penny dept.

Stephen Hall at 9to5Google reports that the next iteration of Google Glass, known internally as 'Google Glass Enterprise Edition' is nearing final production, and it seems that Tony Fadell and his group have refocused the product away from the fashion and urban lifestyle focus it previously had, toward more practical uses in work settings such as factory floors and hospitals. As such, the new Glass has a more rugged build and appearance.

The device, similar to the Explorer Edition, has a band that stretches around the forehead, going back around the left ear. What's most obviously new at first glance is a robust hinge mechanism that allows the computer and battery modules to fold down like a regular pair of glasses, and a hinge for folding down the left side of the band as well.

The overall design of the computer side is more robust as well, built to withstand normal drops and bumps that could occur in less-than-ideal workplace environments. Sources have also said that the device is more water resistant, built with fewer places for water and other outside material to seep in. And, as to be expected from a device built for the workplace, Google has tweaked its visual aesthetic to better fit in a factory or a hospital than on a runway. It's practical and industrial, with a focus on function over fashion.

Internal changes over previous versions of Glass are also announced, including a shift to using an Intel Atom processor. This new version of Glass will not be a consumer product but made available exclusively only to Google's Glass at Work partners, after statements from Google executives that positioning Glass as a consumer product was a big mistake.

More coverage of the new Glass Enterprise Edition from phys.org, Phandroid, and TechCrunch.


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Rivenaleem on Thursday July 23 2015, @10:32AM

    by Rivenaleem (3400) on Thursday July 23 2015, @10:32AM (#212614)

    These glasses would be quite useful in a pharmaceutical manufacture setting where you strictly follow procedures while doing tasks, and record a lot of results in an Electronic Batch Record. Often you cannot have paper in these areas (they shed particles) and you will have to work out of sight of your HMI terminal. Having step by step instructions in your field of view would be quite useful.

    I suspect enterprise versions of the glasses won't have "cool ads" popping up. However it would be useful to have, say, the current temperature flowing through the local WFI loop hovering over the outlet so you knew if you were getting 21 degrees C or 80 Degrees C water. Lockout status of equipment hovering over the equipment would also enhance safety.

    Fitting them with side shields is a trivial matter.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Geezer on Thursday July 23 2015, @11:32AM

    by Geezer (511) on Thursday July 23 2015, @11:32AM (#212620)

    "Fitting them with side shields is a trivial matter."

    Having also worked in pharmachem, I agree the data and procedural display/collection might be nice, pending a cost/benefit analysis and (ugh!) cGMP validation.

    Generally speaking, however, the in-process data collection I worked with (fill volumes, process temps, etc.) is already automated via SCADA, so no need to reinvent the wheel there.

    • (Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:55PM

      by Rivenaleem (3400) on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:55PM (#212726)

      The batch record recording I had in mind was more in the way of confirming step completion (why not by voice command? We already use e-signature, voice recognition should make things easier).

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by sparky on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:12PM

    by sparky (5496) on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:12PM (#212698)

    It may lead to some interesting cultural shifts within the factory. Managers would love to have access to a complete video record of their employees work habits and performance (in real time even!)

    And when your workmanship mistake on the assembly line leads to major catastrophe in the field, future generations can watch your error in their engineering ethics class in HD!

    • (Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:52PM

      by Rivenaleem (3400) on Thursday July 23 2015, @03:52PM (#212724)

      Because the ability to record complete video of employees at work doesn't already exist?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2015, @05:18PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 23 2015, @05:18PM (#212766)

        Because the ability to record complete video of employees requires us to do too much work if we were to do it ourselves but with this thing streaming live to google's servers, the possibilities are limitless

        There, fixed that for you...
        So when that next car recall is coming, I bet they'll find the guy who did that one thing wrong and sue the fuck out of him. Liability is now on the employee for not following 'employee^H^H^H^H Team Member handbook'.

        • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday July 23 2015, @07:37PM

          by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday July 23 2015, @07:37PM (#212822) Journal

          'empl Team Member handbook'? What's that?

          --
          The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 2) by mrchew1982 on Thursday July 23 2015, @07:34PM

      by mrchew1982 (3565) on Thursday July 23 2015, @07:34PM (#212818)

      I thought about this the other day, what if we enter an age where our daily work was recorded and reviewed?

      I work in facilities management, and we recently had to do some video inspections of suspended elements inside of all our buildings for earthquake safety. This prompted the thought that if each construction worker had recorded video of the work that they did, it would be a simple matter to review the video and find out if they had used screws or nails.

      In my line of work it would be insanely useful to have footage of the building as it was built to know exactly what's behind a wall, or where this wire goes... It's not always on the plans or done according to plan.

      Perhaps even more useful would be 3d scans/video surveys of each stage of the build phase...

      Managing and sorting through that much data would be a monumental task, not something that we are ready for yet.