Sixth Sense Futuristic Glasses

I just watched this video about Sixth Sense glasses:

http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html



What a cool concept!  I can't wait to get something like this!  I'm sure all brands would try to make sure they have green lights. It reminds me of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). There are some websites with very high rankings yet when I look at them they are very questionable. Or have you ever looked an online reviews of something that were clearly bloated by people from the company or friends rather than real customers. Of course, I always look on Amazon before buying a book unless I am at the bookstore and buy it on a whim after looking at it and any time I make a major purchase I always look online for reviews because I like to know as much as possible. It would be great to have all of this information at our finger tips. There have been many times when I would be shopping and not sure which brand to get. I could see how ecologically sound a device such as this could be. Why spend extra money on papers, gadgets (remember the watches), and other things that will soon be thrown away.
I'm not sure that I would like for people to see my tags though. What if there was something really embarrassing on there. What if your boss or one of your students sees your tags and there are some that aren't so appropriate? What would really be embarrassing is if you made a mistake years ago and were tagged for that mistake and it would show up when people see you. You really wouldn't be able to hide or convince others that you aren't that person. How would it know you were even that person if there are many people with your same name?

I love how it combines the real and the virtual world. It looks so 3D and futuristic. I'm actually surprised there aren't any cell phones (meaning the iPhone) that have these capabilities. I mean, it wouldn't be that difficult to build a scanner into the phone and simply scan the product and immediately find info about it, right? Actually the device in the video is way cooler than any cell phone I have seen. I love the part where you can punch in the number on the keypad on your hand. I also thought the watch interface that appeared was interesting. Would wrist watches go obsolete? Would many of our objects become obsolete? If we had devices that could perform many tasks and could project things such as keypads, clock interfaces, reviews, etc. we wouldn't need so many extra gadgets and gizmos perhaps. It could also serve almost as a personal assistant, constantly reminding us of everything from names, places, appointments, etc. It would all be right before our eyes!

How would this impact education? Information would literally be at students fingertips, as if it isn't already but even more so with this new invention. I could imagine students being engaged and fully interacting with their environment and learning, as if they are in a museum. Anywhere could be a learning environment, and the classroom itself would open up. The walls would no longer be barriers to the outside world. There may be information overload. I think in this day and age students have access to so much information and it is up to us to teach them how to navigate through all the information, determine what is relevant, what is bogus, and how to utilize it in the best way possible. Students need to understand how to make the best use of it. Perhaps it will make people lazier or less willing to think or make decisions based on their own thoughts since they can just read about other people's opinions. But aren't people doing this today anyway?

However, it will also allow people to make informed decisions and force them to correctly use the knowledge that is out there. They will still be thinking in a sense, but in a different way. I guess times are changing and we just have to go with the flow. I still think students should memorize basic things such as correct spelling, capitals, how to tell time, and other important facts and do math problems without using a calculator like I was forced to do so they can learn how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Anybody remember those dreaded times table tests in elementary school? But hey, I sure learned my times tables! Would a device such as this have speaking capabilities so that the vision impaired could hear all the information? How would the tagging affect students? Students are already sensitive to labels such as ADHD, BED, Geek, Loser, Nerd, Dumb, Slow, etc. If they are labeled somehow and it is showing to everybody, how could this affect the student's self-esteem? How would educators protect students and prevent this from happening? Would society in general be responsible? I'm sure it could affect the role of teachers. Would teachers need to be experts in their subject area? Would a device like this that has access to so much information everywhere take over the role of the teacher as far as content goes while the classroom teacher would take a back seat position and merely be there to monitor students? I think teachers would need to be experts in their subject area but they wouldn't be the sole provider of information and the reason they would need to be knowledgeable of their subject matter is so they can best prepare lessons and determine what students need to learn, the best ways teach it to them, how to build on that knowledge, why it is important to learn it, and they would know what information is valid and useful and what information is incorrect or unnecessary.