Augmented Reality Smart Glasses in Focus: A User Group Report

Abstract

Augmented Reality Smart Glasses (ARSG) are a recent development in consumer-level personal computing technology. Research on ARSGs has largely focused on new forms of etiquette for these personal computing devices, but little else has been examined due in part to consumer availability. The most well-known example of ARSGs is Google Glass, which are no longer available for consumer purchase due to privacy concerns. Google has more recently transitioned to industry-focused applications with the Glass Enterprise Edition [1]. Recent consumer-facing iterations on the technology include Snapchat Spectacles and Ray-Ban Stories, which reignite some of the anxieties surrounding wearable cameras. Focals by North, the ARSG product studied in this project, do not have the capacity to record video or audio, thus mitigating the risk of privacy breaches. This study examines how users of Focals employ the device, successfully or not, to facilitate daily activities such as scheduling, communication, wayfinding, and how non-users perceive the interactions of Focals users. Participants wrote blog responses and participated in a focus group on their daily experiences with the glasses; they also speculated on potential uses and features of future iterations relating to accessibility and entertainment purposes. Focals by North, a relatively low-cost ARSG, aims to make this tech mass market to "seamlessly [blend] technology into our world"[2]. However, this study found participants preferred choice when receiving notifications, and greatly questioned the need for notifications to appear in their field of vision. We anticipate that these results will inform frameworks for assessing consumer facing ARSG products in future work.