5 Ways Google Glass Will Affect Your Business Strategy

Google Glass is the latest technology device offering from Google and as the date for public launch gets closer, the tech world is working their way into a dither.  As the picture below shows, Google Glass is a headband worn in a similar way to glasses with a small glass refractor screen sitting to the top right hand side, just above the users’ eye.

A user sees on the glass something much like a computer screen and interacts with it via voice recognition.  Let’s say you wanted to know what the time was.  Simply say ‘OK, Glass, time’ and the time will appear on the screen in front of your eye.

It has applications far beyond telling the time though.  Google Glasses connect to WIFI and come with a built in video and photo camera.  Users can take photos, stream live video, surf the Internet and send messages, all without using their hands.

So, how will Google Glass affect your business?

Here’s what you need to know:

1. It’s the next phase of mobile computing

Just as users accessing your website through their mobile changed the way businesses set up their websites, Google Glass, or their predecessors, will do the same.  All businesses will need to adapt their online information to be easy for a user wearing the glasses to interact with.

2. Communication

Communication with others over the internet will become more instantaneous and proliferated.  Google Glass makes it possible to hold a meeting without leaving your current location, view documents without pulling out devices or even to send a message while you’re in the middle of a conversation.  It’s likely that most employees will utilize a product like Google Glass just as they do laptops and mobile phones – constantly.

3. Instantaneous ‘Push’ Information

The need for instantaneous information will dramatically increase as people get used to being able to access it without even ‘dragging out a device’ (who would want to do something so laborious as that!).  Customers browsing your products could have information, including prices or special offers, displayed as they walk through a shop.  Offers appearing on the glass may draw them inside.  Information ‘pushed’ through to customers could revolutionise marketing and sales efforts.

4. Instantaneous ‘Pull’ Information

Imagine an employee knowing everything about every product without having to learn it or turn away from the customer. A CEO could suddenly remember all the names and backgrounds on people in the organization, perhaps even with notes against each name about their last interaction.  People will utilize Google Glass to pull information out instantaneously and that could give a big boost to business’s employee customer care and culture.

5. After-Sales Connection

The ability to remain hands free while communicating means applications can interact with the user practically in real time.  Customers having difficulty working out the new TV screen they just purchased can be guided through step by step.  A customer service assistant for a software program can literally see exactly what the consumer sees as they replicate the problem they are trying to solve.  There is a huge opportunity for businesses to increase their levels of customer service with the adoption of Google Glass.

Many of these functionalities are just ideas at the moment, requiring application development and most of all market take up to become reality.  Just as with the mobile revolution though, those businesses adapting to the technology early will have an edge on their competitors and access to an untapped market.