Montana Tech Assistant Professor Nick Hawthorne’s next research project will be working through glass--Google Glass that is. Hawthorne was hand selected by Google to beta test a pair of Google Glass, a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display. Google Glass was developed by Google with the mission of producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format.
Using Glass, Hawthorne and a graduate research assistant will develop a fly-fishing Glassware Application for Google Glass focusing on Southwestern Montana Rivers: Beaverhead, Big Hole, Bitterroot, Blackfoot, Clark Fork, Flint Creek, Jefferson, Little Blackfoot, Red Rock and Ruby.
The project’s goals are: (1) to create Glassware that is functional and effective; (2) to design the Glassware that does not interfere with the user’s experience; (3) works best with information that is simple, relevant, and current; (4) and to submit the Glassware to Google for publication.
“This project will make an important contribution to the field of communication and computer science,” noted Hawthorne. “We will be using bleeding edge technology to produce an application that has yet to be done as Glassware. We will also be using hardware and software not yet accessible by the general public, in an opportunity to create and develop from the ground floor.”
The glassware app titled “Fish Eye” for Google Glass intends to deliver real-time data about the rivers located in Southwest Montana. Real-time data is set to include cubic feet per second (CFS) river flows through United States Geological Survey (USGS), Global Positioning System (GPS) integration, hatch charts and water temperature. The comparative difference that sets this apart from a cell phone app is the ability to control Glass through voice commands. A list of voice commands has been included in the appendix document.
“The app will not be designed to inhibit local conversation about rivers and hatches, it’s simply meant to help aid in the pursuit of fish,” laughed Hawthorne.
Read the story by Montana Standard reporter Kelley Christensen HERE.