Your glasses may someday replace your smartphone, and some New Yorkers are ready for the switch. Some in the city can't wait to try them on and use the maps and GPS that the futuristic eyewear is likely to include.
"I'd use it if I were hanging out with friends at 3 a. m. and going to the bar and wanted to see what was open, "said Walter Choo, 40, of Fort Greene.
The smartphone-like glasses will likely come out this year and cost between $250 and $600, the Times said, possibly including a variation of augmented (增强的) reality, a technology already available on smartphones and tablets(平板电脑) that overlays information onto the screen about one's surroundings. So, for example, if you were walking down a street, indicators( 指示信号) would pop up showing you the nearest coffee shop or directions could be plotted out and come into view right on the sidewalk in front of you.
As far as a mainstream consumer product, this just isn't something anybody needs," said Sam Biddle, who writes for Gizmodo. com. " We're accustomed to having one thing in our pocket to do all these things," he added, "and the average consumer isn't gonna be able to afford another device (装置) that's hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
Google publisher Seth Weintraub, who has been reporting on the smartphone-like glasses since late last year, said he is confident that this type of wearable device will eventually be as common as smartphones.
"It's just like smartphones 10 years ago, "Weintraub said." A few people started getting emails on their phones, and people thought that was crazy. Same kind of thing. We see people bending their heads to look at their smartphones, and it's unnatural," he said. "There's gonna be improvements to that, and this a step there."
