Tinkering Over Winter Break

Over the extended winter break, I found myself tinkering more and more with the developer options of Glass.  People have been posting on Google+ apps that they are currently working on and want feedback.  Some are useless (yes, "duck hunt" is out for Glass ha) and some are extremely promising.   I did some research and started to use "terminal" to use some commands to sideload apps.  Sideloading refers to the process of manually adding apps to a device that have not been officially approved by Google.  This coding has been a totally new experience for me.  Reading blogs, tutorials, and watching YouTube videos has helped me understand the "guts" of Google Glass and how everything works.  

my desktop workspace on our first snow day of the year

I have been following a few developers on Google+ and am excited for things to come.  +Tejas Lagvankar is making some strides in developing an app to display guitar chords.  Take a look at his demo:




I am also excited to have discovered a way to screencast the Glass display to my computer screen.  Showing what I am seeing in live time has been on the top of my mind since getting Glass.  It'll help me display concepts to my music students.  After lots of research and trial & error, I reached out to the Explorer community and was recommended "BBQScreen".  This has the least amount of lag by far.  I am fortunate enough to have access to a projector in every classroom I teach in.  The band room has a very large projection screen that was installed this past year - I can't wait to project on to it.  The only downside at the moment is, Glass needs to be plugged into the computer through a USB cable.  I can still stand on the podium or sit down at a piano and have my computer well within the reach of my USB cable.  Being confined to the reach of the USB cable is the tradeoff of having low lag.

 It is important to note that Google Glass is STILL in development.  People might state, "my phone can do the same thing" or "that's expensive and unnecessary".  Things have time to grow.  All of the apps right now are in their infancy and will develop into much more than the initial release.  As a Glass Explorer, I am trying to improve the Glass experience through feedback and community contributions.  We are testing what is possible with the product and how Glass can enhance our everyday living.