Live Chat!

Hello... thanks for having us. I'm Robert Hernandez, Digital Journalism professor at USC Annenberg. I hijack tech for journalism. I have Glass, but I am not a Glasshole. ;)

In terms of content creation, there are some interesting possibilities, but as of right now nothing more sophisticated than your smart phone. I mean, I think you can strap your phone to your head and get more functionality… I don't know if you'll feel more or less dorky than wearing Glass, though.

That said, in all seriousness, Google recently released the Glass Development Kit (GDK), allowing developers to create new Glassware/apps. So, we haven't really seen anything yet.

Link to GDK:

For me, though, the true excitement for a device like Glass is another level of possible contextual storytelling.

For better or worse, the device has a GPS (so it knows where you are), a camera (so it knows what you are looking at) and it connected to the Internet. Those three elements together unlock some fantastic possibilities.

As storytellers, using location, time of day and more will help make a story more relevant. And, for me, a potential goal is Augmented Reality storytelling.

From a user experience perspective, Glass as a film/journalism device is so intuitive. Glass turns your head into a natural human tripod.

(And please remember to submit your questions for Robert and Hannah in the box above!)

"Authentic" is hard to define. But Glass footage does offer a rawness that is as close to "nonfictional purity" as you can get...It's democratic because it's through everyone's eye-site. WIthout Glass, when you're filming your subject , the compositional choices (high/low angle) act as a filter. Glass does away with that.

While we wait for Robert's answer, here's some of 2X1's favorite moments shot on Glass:

2x1: Best Glass Moments from Project 2x1 on Vimeo.

What would that look like?

An example, off the top of my head, is that you are standing on a downtown street corner and stories -- from real time to historical -- come alive to you at that moment. You can opt in to engage or easily ignore. But the device's screen can add information to that building or offer crime stats of that street corner or the best place to get a burrito. This is clearly a first draft… when we build and test apps, we'll find more possibilities.

Here's the trailer of Project2X1:

So our film explores the neighborhood of Crown Heights, Brooklyn in an effort to increase dialogue between its two predominant groups: the Hasidic Jews and Caribbean communities who share a history of tension. Generally speaking, these communities are not the most technologically equipped, so Glass was completely novel to both of them.

Surprisingly though, people were really curious about Glass and eager to try it on both sides. We faced little skepticism except for a few occasions where people didn't believe us that we weren't recording.

My favorite moments in production were when people told us that they didn't want to be filmed with our DSLRs. It became our invitation to say, " That's okay. You'll be the filmmaker; here's a camera you can wear and use to tell your own story through your POV."

Really, it's the social acceptance. A lot of people project so many inaccurate things onto the device. They totally get it when they finally put it on, but that's a hurdle.

When I put on the device, I am opting in for the stares and a flood of questions. I'm not a spokesperson for the device, but clearly I am a nerd… and I love nerding out with other people. And I love seeing them "get" the device immediately. Their brains start thinking of their own applications/uses.

That is great, but as a journo I sometimes just want to observe. More people need it, so it stands out less. Bring on the Ray-Bans!

Obviously surveillance is a big ethical issue. But in our case, since we had community members wear Glass, we obviously had to gain wearers' consent first. For documentarians especially, the biggest struggle in film production will always be gaining film subjects' trust. It doesn't matter if you use Glass or not, but I think Glass can actually help ease distrust because it invites participation/ collaboration.

Re: privacy concerns- it's pretty obvious when you're recording, so I think a lot of these concerns will go away when people start to experience Glass for themselves.

The other thing about recording through Glass is that the lens is actually in your periphery, not immediately in front of you. When filming, your line of sight changes, and it makes you look a little weird. Yet another way to detect Glass-filmers.

Great question... that a challenge with any device (mic, still camera, video, notebook). It's all about establishing a good relationship with your source. They have to feel comfortable to talk with you about their story or information.

Until we, society, have accepted these devices like we have our phones it might be a good idea to pace the introduction of the device into the interview.

If you are experimenting, have your source try them on. Let their use demystify the device.

But the mark of a good interview and interviewer is when the source is comfortable and focused on your conversation/questions.

For both of you: What will Glass need to do to become ubiquitous? Right now it's a bit... shall we say, clunky? Why do you think people there is so much trepidation in its current state?

Also, I think there is a "small" thing that a lot of people miss that I think has HUGE value: immediate access to everything.

Yes, we carry our phones in our purses and back pockets. But think about the steps we take when we want to take a photo: Get phone. Unlock. Select app. Point and click. Or, on some phones, get phone, flip to launch camera app, then shoot.

Glass has three, much faster options: Say "Okay Glass, take a picture." Or just wink, essentially. Or push a button on the device. It's already out and ready. We are sharing/posting before you've finished unlocking.

Now, let's translate that speed to access to knowledge. Let's see who could find out how to say "hello" in Mandarin first… Glass vs Smart phone. Not only is Glass faster, but it will even pronounce/tell you the word in seconds.

The speed to deal with smaller, lighter emails is awesome… it reads emails to you, and you can reply back via speech.

Fast, even though we feel it's already fast, is going to be a huge selling point. But they have to make users feel less dorky first.

Here's the video in question:

Photographing a primary election victory from Chicago Tribune on Vimeo.

What’s next for both of you? How will you be exploring Glass as a tool in the near future?

As some may have heard, I am teaching a Glass Journalism course in the fall at USC Annenberg. I am fortunate to have an amazing mix of students from across the USC campus who want to experiment and build "Glassware" for journalism.

We'll have a public facing site, sharing all our experiences here: glassjournalism.io

I also tweet via the @glassjournalism account, I setup for my device. And I also post/share experiences here: glassjournalism.org

The goal is to proactively influence/shape storytelling and information forms for wearable devices. Glass is just the most "mature" platform. I rather we get ahead of the curve than get left behind…

Thanks for following along everyone. Cheers!