As much as everyone seems amazed at the recent innovation of Google Glass, it is true there are various ways we can program it so that it makes more sense to the end user. One of them is Mirror API. Google Glass is surely a complicated device involving communication in quite a complex manner with speech input, speech output, gesture-based UI, and others. Unless the device is put on an app that is easier to interpret for the end user, it will obviously present challenges that may hinder its use among the majority. However, it is important for would-be users to understand clearly how it works.
First, it is true that the Mirror API can only allow a limited interaction between the hardware and the user. However, instead of operating like a web Chateau Gonflable app, the Mirror app should be able to talk directly to talk directly to the hardware. The Google Glass is a high-level device that works on the principle of timeline cards, which act as the basic unit of interaction between the hardware and the user.
The cards are like tiny HTML pages that are downloaded from the main server and displayed through the glass to help the user select simple menu options by tapping. This also makes it possible for the user to swipe cards through the timeline to share photos, weather updates and other card-enabled information while communicating. In essence, the timeline cards enable two-way communication.Users should understand that the application’s server, which sends new timeline cards and receives any that is saved on the server, processes all communication that take place through Google Glass.
The application’s server behaves more or less like the client-server, which you find in an Ajax app, but as a much simplified version. The function of the Mirror API is only to provide the user with Timeline cards, the menu options and share entities and subscriptions. However, the Glass provides some built-in features that can enhance the functions of the Mirror API. Such built-in services include an in-built camera that can take quality pictures and record videos, much as it happens in a Smartphone.When you add the Mirror API to the voice input capabilities of the Glass and its ability to take photos and record videos, using the device becomes quite interesting. For instance, the user can send voice-dictated replies to a question, or send voice-dictated requests to the server. With the gadget’s ability to take photos, the user can take and share photos, videos, for an easy two-way communication. The most popular feature of Google Glass is voice recognition, which allows the user to apply verbal commands to take pictures, send texts, or browse internet. However, the user cannot do everything on the device with a voice command.
The Google Glass therefore comes with a touchpad and additional controls in one of its arms, which allow the user to swipe through displays and show recent phone calls, read news or weather updates, or check stock prices using the device. Some of the setbacks users have reported with the device include its battery life, which they say can only last an average of five hours after long use of the device, or checking e-mails and taking photos and videos.
