I believe if we reduce the time between intention and action, it causes a major change in what you can do, period. When you actually get it down to two seconds, it’s a different way of thinking, and that’s powerful. And so I believe, and this is what a lot of people believe in academia right now, that these on-body devices are really the next revolution in computing.
I am convinced that wearable devices, in particular heads-up devices of which Google Glass is an example, will be playing a major role in medical practice in the not-too-distant future. The above quote from Thad Starner describes the leverage point such devices will exploit: the gap that now exists between deciding to make use of a device and being able to carry out the intended action.
Right now it takes me between 15 and 30 seconds to get my iPhone out and do something useful with it. Even in its current primitive form, Google Glass can do at least some of the most common tasks for which I get out my iPhone in under five seconds, such as taking a snapshot or doing a Web search.
Closing the gap between intention and action will open up potential computing modalities that do not currently exist, entirely novel use case scenarios that are difficult even to envision before a critical mass of early adopter experience is achieved.
The Technology Review interview from which I extracted the quote raises some of the potential issues wearable tech needs to address, but the value proposition driving adoption will soon be truly compelling.
I'm adding some drill-down links below.
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