Looking back over the last few decades, it is incredible to see just how fast technology has advanced and evolved. There was a time not too long ago when people didn’t have Google, and had to use the yellow pages to find a business or number, and not yellowpages.com, the huge yellow book that weighed about 20 pounds. Today that is almost unthinkable, a forgotten art. In the past decade we have grown more and more accustom to having access to unlimited information at our finger tips 24/7. Search engines are now part of our culture; we need information instantly, where ever we are. Companies like Google and Apple have capitalized on our craving for constant and instant connection to information and people. iPhones and Androids give us the capabilities of computers right in the palm of our hand. Searching for information is getting easier and more personal and Google is continuing to make our connection to the internet and to other people more and more an extension of who we are.
Google is attempting to completely transform how we stay connected in the future with their latest project Google glass, a wearable mobile computing unit that will have all the capabilities of our current smart phones – contained in a pair of glasses. This was announced about six months ago and as of now Google is still moving ahead with its development as planned and is preparing to ship prototypes to developers later this year. The latest news for the project is that Google applied to patent a technology that would use a laser in the glasses to project a keyboard onto the users hand or arm.
Check out Google Glass
Although this is all very cool and futuristic, as marketers we always need to keep the question in mind, “what does this mean for marketing and SEO?” The first implication is that it could completely transform the social media industry. As of now literally everyone and their mother are on Facebook. But with Google glass being directly linked to a Google+ account, it will allow instant upload of pictures and videos, as well as facial recognition features for those in your circles, and many more features to come. This could give Google+ the edge it needs to get people off of the Facebook bandwagon and start building their circles. Although we still do not know what all of the new apps and features will look like for this new form of mobile computing, it is certain that with technologies in development such as facial recognition, augmented reality and image recognition, search as we know it will never be the same, and we as marketers will have an entirely new frontier to explore and analyze.
By James Maston