提高效率 如何在工作中使用谷歌眼鏡

Wearable technology like Apple’s new smartwatch has gotten plenty of attention lately, as have startups that are customizing Google Glass for specific workplace uses from oil rigs to operating rooms and factories in China. But if you work in an ordinary office, can Glass make your life easier? More to the point, at about twice the price of the average smartphone, can Glass do anything a smartphone can’t?

最近，可穿戴技術吸引了衆多眼球，例如蘋果（Apple）最新推出的智能手錶，與此同時，一些初創公司也引起了人們的注意，他們將谷歌眼鏡（Google Glass）進行自定義，用於特定的工作場所，比如油井、手術室，在中國，它還被應用在工廠裏。但如果你是一家普通公司的員工，谷歌眼鏡能否讓你的生活變得更容易？更確切地說，售價是普通智能手機兩倍的谷歌眼鏡是否能做一些智能手機目前還無法完成的事情？

Ray Nicholus, lead developer and product manager at software firm Widen Enterprises in Madison, Wisc., decided to find out. A couple of months ago, he started wearing the glasses to the office every day. The main advantage he’s found: Having a computer screen in front of your right eye leaves your hands free. “You can shoot photos and videos, and get email notifications and all kind of other information, without having to pick up a device,” he says.

雷o尼古拉斯是美國威斯康辛州麥迪遜軟件公司Widen Enterprises的開發總監兼產品經理，他決定一探究竟。幾個月前，他開始每天佩戴谷歌眼鏡上班。他發現谷歌眼鏡的主要優勢在於：右眼前方有一個屏幕可以解放你的雙手。他說：“你不需要拿起一臺設備，便可以拍攝照片和視頻，收取電子郵件提醒和各種其他信息。”

So far, Nicholus sees several other ways Glass makes everyday office life easier. First, because it integrates with Gmail, Google calendar, and an Android smartphone, “you can glance at incoming emails, phone calls, and calendar reminders all in one place without switching context,” he says. Glass is also useful for meetings. An app called Refresh can do background research on everyone who’s expected in a gathering, or at a job interview, and put the data on the screen “so you can ask the right questions.”

到目前爲止，尼古拉斯已經體會到了谷歌眼鏡能夠給辦公室生活帶來便利的其他方面。首先，因爲這款眼鏡集成了Gmail、谷歌日曆和一部安卓智能手機，“你在一個地方便可以瀏覽來信、來電和日曆提醒，不需要切換背景。”此外，谷歌眼鏡在開會時也很有用處。一款名爲Refresh的應用可以對預計會出席會議的人進行背景調查（或者在面試的時候使用），然後將數據顯示到屏幕上，這樣“你就可以提出恰當的問題。”

Nicholus especially likes YourShow, a Glass app that makes notes for a speech or presentation available in front of the speaker’s eyes. “You can see a preview of your slides without losing focus on your audience, and even advance slides just by tapping your glasses,” he says. The only drawback is that, although the speaker is less distracted, the audience sometimes isn’t. “They do notice you’re wearing Glass, and it can be the only thing they focus on.”

尼古拉斯尤其喜歡一款名爲Yourshow的谷歌眼鏡應用，該應用可以在演講者的眼前顯示演講稿或演示稿的提示。他說道：“你可以用谷歌眼鏡查看幻燈片的預覽，避免讓自己看起來不關注聽衆，甚至按一下眼鏡就可以切換到下一張幻燈片。”唯一的缺點在於，雖然演講者更少分心，但有時候聽衆卻會分散注意力。“他們會注意到你佩戴了谷歌眼鏡，而這將成爲他們唯一關注的東西。”

With so many employees now working in places far from the home office, an app called LiveStream could come in handy for making them feel more connected. “Someone wearing Glass in a meeting or other group event, using LiveStream, serves as an ultra-portable camera,” Nicholus says. “It’s an easy way to give remote employees a better sense of being in the same room.”

現在有許多員工在遠離總部的地方工作，一款名叫LiveStream的應用可以讓他們感覺與公司的聯繫更緊密。尼古拉斯說道：“戴着谷歌眼鏡參加會議或其他團體活動時，如果使用LiveStream，就像把自己變身爲一臺超級便攜攝像機。”這會讓遠程辦公的員工更容易體會到身臨其境的感覺。

LiveStream might be a valuable recruiting tool, too. “Ask an employee to wear Glass and record typical or interesting moments throughout the day,” he suggests. “This can be edited down to a short ‘day in the life’ video you could use to market your company and its culture to job candidates.”

此外，LiveStream還是一款非常有價值的招聘工具。他建議：“要求一名員工佩戴谷歌眼鏡，錄製當天見到的典型或有趣的瞬間。然後將這些瞬間剪輯成一段短視頻——‘生命中的一天’，藉此向求職者推銷自己的公司和文化。”

Some of the 55 apps and integrations available from Google’s Glassware store sound almost as futuristic as the glasses look. Word Lens, for instance, could be a huge help to managers sent on overseas assignments who haven’t yet picked up much of the local language. It uses the Glass camera to translate printed words, and then overlays the translated text on top of the original.

谷歌Glassware商店中有55款應用和集成功能，這些應用聽起來與眼鏡本身一樣未來感十足。例如，對於被派往海外但尚未熟練掌握本地語言的管理者來說，Word Lens能提供極大幫助。該應用利用谷歌眼鏡的攝像頭翻譯打印的文字，之後將翻譯後的文本覆蓋到原始文本上。

So how come we’re not all sporting these specs? For one thing, the current base price of $1,500 plus tax is a bit steep for most consumers. “Google will have to get it closer to the price of a smartphone before most people will really look at buying it,” says Nicholus. Then there are technical difficulties, like Glass’s short battery life—“four to six hours at best, and much shorter if you’re filming”—and glitches like frequent WiFi disconnections. “It’s definitely still in beta,” Nicholus notes.

可爲什麼谷歌眼鏡並未達到人手一部的規模？首先，谷歌眼鏡目前的基本價格是1,500美元，加上稅費，會令大多數消費者望而卻步。尼古拉斯說道：“谷歌必須將谷歌眼鏡的價格降到智能手機的水平，才能讓大多數人考慮購買它。”其次是技術難題，例如谷歌眼鏡過短的電池續航時間——“充其量只能延續4至6個小時，如果錄像，續航時間會更短”——還有WiFi頻繁掉線的問題。尼古拉斯說道：“很顯然，這款產品仍屬測試版。”

Not only that, but “Google is going to have to make Glass look more like ordinary glasses,” he adds. “Right now, it’s very noticeable, unlike even a smartwatch, and it does make people around you uncomfortable.” Not to mention how you look to yourself in the mirror. One recent reviewer on Amazon noted that his pair makes him look “dorky beyond anything I could have imagined.”

不僅如此，他補充道：“谷歌應該讓谷歌眼鏡看起來更像普通眼鏡。現在的谷歌眼鏡外形太過顯著，甚至沒有智能手錶低調，這會讓你周圍的人不舒服。”更不用說在鏡子裏看自己時的尷尬。最近，一位用戶在亞馬遜上評論說，他的谷歌眼鏡讓自己看起來“傻到家了。”

Even so, Nicholus sees so much potential in Glass that he’s hoping Google GOOG -2.36% —which has so far been tight-lipped about its plans—will continue to add even more capabilities and work out the remaining bugs. “They seem to be focused on enterprise uses right now,” he notes. “But if they aren’t planning to keep adapting it for general use too, that would really be a shame.”

儘管如此，尼古拉斯還是認爲谷歌眼鏡有巨大的潛力，他希望谷歌能繼續增加更多性能，解決其他問題。到目前爲止，谷歌對谷歌眼鏡的未來計劃一直三緘其口。他說道：“現在，谷歌似乎專注於企業級應用。如果他們不打算繼續針對普通應用對谷歌眼鏡進行完善，那就太令人遺憾了。”（財富中文網）