This post was originally featured on the Pristine Blog.
Glass is just a computer. Nothing less, nothing more.
I previously identified four fundamental characteristics of Glass that make it unique. The only apps that will be successful on Glass will be those that take advantages of the new form factor.
1. Hands free
2. Heads up display
3. Friction free
4. First person camera
I just identified a 5th, and potentially a 6th unique characteristic of the Glass platform:
5. Head tracking. With the accelerometer and gyro, Glass understands head movements.
Although there aren't too many practical mainstream applications for head tracking, it presents interesting opportunities in robotics and robotic surgery. On Glass today, I find the value of head tracking to be limited, but head tracking will grow to be a far more powerful concept when coupled with larger eyeware screens. With larger screens, one can easily imagine intelligent data overlays that automatically adjust to what you see as you move your head. Although this is technically feasible with Glass today, it's just not practical given that Glass's screen doesn't obstruct the wearer's vision.
6. One-way audio. The bone conduction speakers allows for near-silent one way audio communications. In a perfectly quiet environment, 3rd parties can decipher inbound audio, but generally speaking, it's extremely difficult for non-wearers to hear what wearers are hearing. With one-way audio, Glass could be an interesting communications device in medicine in light of HIPAA regulations.
In addition to these two characteristics, I find the ambient light sensor to be intriguing. I consider it a subset of the 1st person camera. The 1st person ambient light sensor isn't compelling enough to be a fundamentally unique characteristic, but it's worth noting. I'm trying to envision the value of the light sensor in patient care environments, but I'm not coming up with much.
In retrospect, I should have identified all 6 of these when I wrote the original marginal value of Glass post in March. It's actually easy to systematically identify them: just look at the hardware sensors and human computer interaction elements. They define the marginal value of the platform.