1. What it’s really like to live with Google Glass

The Google Glass #GlassChat Meetup was lots of fun, and hugely eye opening. I gate crashed a meeting of Glass early adopters, or ‘Explorers’ as Google wants us to call them.

We discussed some of the amazing potential applications for glass, and the ways it’s being used already, by surgeons, film makers and travellers etc.

One idea that really stuck out was in emergency healthcare. Imagine if first aid kits contained a Glass device. Someone has a heart attack and needs CPR. The first-aider puts on Glass, connects to the emergency services via a hangout, and the paramedic on the other end sees what they can see, and literally shows them where they need to put their hands and what to do. It’s just one of many incredible potential applications.

But, the problems are still hard to ignore. Much of the backlash from the public has centered around Glass’ ability to take photos and films without the knowledge or consent of the people being filmed, raising fears about privacy. The ‘Explorers’ argued that we’re constantly being filmed on CCTV anyway, so what’s the difference? Well, I think there’s a massive difference between a camera mounted high up on a wall, and a camera mounted on the face of the person you’re trying to have a conversation with, but still.

Whether we like it or not, Glass and other devices like it are likely here to stay.

2. Understanding your genetic code costs a mere $99 and will change the way you live your life

Founder of 23andMe (and wife of Google founder Sergey Brin) Anne Wojcicki talked about the potential understanding your own genetic code has to revolutionise healthcare and the way you live your live. The $99 service can tell you what diseases and health issues you’re genetically predisposed to, and provide you with advice on how to avoid them. This is technology that has been talked about for quite a while, but it’s now finally here, and affordable to just about everyone.

However, they have recently suffered a massive setback, with health regulators in the US ruling that their analysis products do not have enough evidence to support their claims, and therefore forcing them to suspend their service. But, make no msitake, we're going to be seeing plenty more of this sort of thing.

3. SparkFun CEO Nathan Seidle shares some awesome ideas on computer interfaces for people with disabilities

We accidentally ended up having hotdogs with SparkFun CEO Nathan Seidle. SparkFun make and sell lots of incredibly useful parts that hackers all over the world use to build physical computing projects (many of our window projects at WK have been built using SparkFun parts). Over dinner he shared with us some great ideas for computer control interfaces for people paralysed from the neck down, including a type of interface users can control with their tongues.

Nathan also talked about some of his other favourite ideas he's seen people create with the products he sells. "It's artsists who are coming up with the most surprising and inspiring ideas" says Nathan.

4. ExtraSolar – Volunteers wanted to explore newly discovered planet

The gaming world is dominated by big AAA first-person shooter titles, that while impressive, tend not to be all that original. So it’s refreshing when you come across something completely different.

ExtraSolar is one such striking idea for an Alternative Reality Game. The game asks you to volunteer to help a NASA-like organisation exploring a fictional extra-terrestrial planet using robotic rover. Go sign up now and take part.
 

5. Forget wearables. Get ready for Embeddables.

While wearable technology is without doubt one of the biggest trends of SXSWi 2014, it’s embeddable technology that may make the biggest change to our lives.

Imagine if you had a taste sensor embedded in your tongue, that’s connected to your Nespresso coffee machine. You make a new coffee, and take a sip. Yuck – not so good. The sensor in your tongue senses your distaste, and analyses what was wrong with it. Then without you lifting a finger, it 'phones home' to the Nespresso factory, and creates you a new coffee blend, specifically blended to appeal to your tastes. Nespresso then send you a sample of your new personalised blend, and a discount coupon to buy more of it. Sounds scary? Perhaps, but it has less to do with science fiction that you might think.

6. Leetcoin lets you make Bitcoin wagers on multiplayer gaming

Leetcoin is a platform for computer game players to raise the stakes when competing against each other, by making wagers with Bitcoin. Leetcoin think it’s going to create a new breed to professional computer game players, almost like professional athletes in sports. £50 large game, Dom?

Luke Tipping writes:

Lots of talks today and the big theme uniting them was privacy. First up was Julian Assange. Teleported in by Skype from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Julian talked about how there’s been a militarisation of our civilian space. He suggests that our information is being stolen from us every day by governments and brands. It is now almost impossible to live outside of surveillance. In the next hour, how about trying to live without a digital sensor of sorts recording any of your behaviour?

Later in the day Jon Lebkowsky and Patrick Lichty talked about the "Cyborg Gaze". They suggested that pervasive imaging is now everywhere and that there’s a shift occurring from surveillance to "sousveillance". This is defined as the recording of an activity by a participant in the activity. It is done typically by way of a small wearable device like Google Glass.

A Cyborg turned up to the Q&A:

Lebkowsky and Lichty suggested that today a participatory panopticon is occurring, wherein we increasingly have no idea whether we are being watched or not. Nor do we know whether somebody elsewhere is copying the photos and videos we take and analysing them for another purpose.

Why does it matter if we’re being watched? If we’re good people with nothing to hide then it doesn’t really matter, right?

Maybe. Although for me the real issue boils down to the fact that machine vision has better memory than human. Viktor Mayer-Schönberger talks a bit about this in his fantastic book Delete. He says that once upon a time it was hard to remember. Now it’s almost impossible to forget.

As humans it's really important that we’re able to grow and escape our former selves. Think about some of the things you may have said on the playground when you were younger. Part of growing up is about making mistakes and learning. How can we do that if increasingly our every word and move is being recorded, potentially appearing later in life in a completely different context. If you’d like your daughter or son to be a future Prime Minister or President it’s probably worth making sure they never use a social network. Or maybe get them started on Secret first. Here's what everybody here is secretly thinking about SXSW by the way.

So quite a dystopian day, really. A lot of the stuff we build in technology is progressive but I really do believe that we don’t think properly about the social implications. The creative industries are increasingly embracing new and quick 'do then learn' iterative processes but perhaps we should all be a bit more thoughtful about what we’re making.

The privacy backlash is certainly making its way from governments towards brands. So if you’re using data to create a personalised product or service it's now more important than ever that you make the return of information disproportionately big enough for people.  

More tomorrow.