Google and Microsoft See the Future

This is the new Microsoft Future video. It includes communication glasses and lots of interactive cards and surfaces. I like the see-thru fridge too.

Forbes says Google is planning to come out with Google Glasses by the end of the year. There is always the possibility that this could be the end-all be-all of gadgets. It could finally sew together all the stuff you use. Forbes says:

In late February, the New York Times reported that Google will release its Android-powered, heads up display Google Glasses before the end of 2012. Different stories exist around the functionality and look of Google Glasses, being built in the secretive GoogleX offices. But thanks to observations from people like 9 to 5 Google blogger Seth Weintraub and the New York Times’ Nick Bilton, we think they’ll have these characteristics:

• Small camera providing real-time data about a person’s environment (also takes pictures)
• Head tilting-driven navigation system
• Non-transparent heads up display on one lens
• Voice input and output capabilities
• The downside? Google Glasses are rumored to look more like “terminator glasses” than everyday eyewear.

Why are Google Glasses a big deal? Because they may be the beginning of the end of gadgets. Today, gadgets like smart phones, tablets, and MP3 players are built from the ground up to serve specific technological purposes. A smart phone exists to make calls. A MP3 player exists to play music. In the future, we’ll see more of the opposite: everyday objects that already exist (like glasses) or spaces (like a room) that have technology built into them. As the functionality of gadgets becomes built into these everyday objects, the gadgets themselves start to become irrelevant.