Google Glass - Innovation Made In Austria
Austrian Professor Alois Ferscha describes his work with the "Spectacles" project as both his greatest success and failure. The project was a collaborative effort between Ferscha's team at Johannes Kepler University (JKU) Linz and the Austrian eyewear manufacturer Silhouette, resulting in the creation of a pair of cutting-edge data glasses back in 2004. As Google Glass, the technology became a world sensation - without Prof. Ferscha's involvement.
In Europe, we often look at the world somewhat perplexed, where the US and China seem to be overtaking us innovatively in areas such as artificial intelligence at breakneck speed.
Kai-fu Lee, AI expert and ex-head of Google China, opined in early 2019 that Europe is not even in the running for 3rd place in the global AI competition.
"We may lack the resources, but we are eager to perform miracles," European researchers countered.
Sometimes our researchers not only perform innovative miracles, but then inadvertently invite a major international corporation onto their innovation - for free, as was the case with Google Glass.
Too Fast And Too Furious
First, a comment on the mad competitive race for disruptive innovation in the world: Overly short-term thinking and a focus on quick wins and profits may seem promising in the short term, but can lead to disaster in the long run.
Sustainable innovation is a long-term game, and without the connection to fundamental values of humanity, technological developments can cause enormous, irreparable damage.
Moreover, if innovation is created by stealing technologies from others, we lose the capacity to solve problems in new and creative ways in the long run. And we certainly can't afford that at this point in time.
From Europe With Love
Contrary to popular belief, Europe still produces significant technological innovation. However, European researchers often fail to claim the rights to their discoveries in a timely manner, allowing others to capitalize on their achievements.
A prime example of this phenomenon occurred with the described Spectacles project, where a groundbreaking innovation was turned into a sensational product by another entity – Google.
In 2005, while sifting through a list of projects funded by the Austrian FIT-IT technology program, I stumbled upon the "Spectacles" project. As a media professional, I recognized its potential as a compelling story.
These data glasses will make up for a good media story, I thought to myself. Along with an autonomous ski project, called “Aski”, I believed these two innovations had significant potential.
Well, as a skiing nation, we Austrians tend to overestimate the importance of skiing to world events, and so it wasn't the self-sufficient ski that was, shall we say, stolen from us by a big high-tech giant, but it was the goggle technology developed by “Spectacles”. Google Glass is actually based on the technology developed in this project.
How It All Began
As early as 2003, Professor Alois Ferscha and his team of researchers at JKU began toying with the idea of creating a computer built into eyeglasses. A year later, they partnered with Austrian eyewear manufacturer Silhouette to bring their vision to life.
The challenge was significant: integrate data functions without disrupting the glasses' design. But the result was nothing short of remarkable. The glasses were equipped with sensors that could detect temperature, light, sound, acceleration, geoposition, and even measure the wearer's stress level. The glasses also included wireless communication, a mini speaker, and a visual projection, with a prism display similar to that used in Google Glass.
Lost On The Road To Market
In 2007, the prototype of the data glasses was completed, but then the project came to an abrupt end. Silhouette had other challenges to overcome and could not bring the product to market.
Google, on the other hand, could.
In 2013, a member of Prof. Ferscha's former Spectacles research team presented the technology from back then in Zurich - only in his presentation it was called "Google Glass" and he was now the head of the eponymous division at the world's largest search engine company.
Now, we could say that it doesn't matter, because in retrospect Google Glass turned out to be a flop, is banned as a spy technology in some countries and is very controversial in general.
Nevertheless, it is thought-provoking that in Europe we often seem to create great innovative foundations and then virtually give them away to the world without receiving the corresponding (monetary) appreciation for them.