Role: Researcher, Project Manager, Designer, Videographer
Skills: Location Based Storytelling, Wearable Research, Google Glass App Creation, Video Production, Web Development
At the time of this research project, Google Glass was a nascent wearable that had just been released. There were many technology and media articles regarding its potential and shortcomings. Although these articles presented information from users that had first hand experience with Google Glass there was a lack of empirical studies that looked at Google Glass with a critical perspective.
As part of my research into wearable devices; I sought to conduct a research and development project that focused on Google Glass as a new medium for experiential learning, storytelling and communication. Throughout this project Google Glass was studied from a technical, cultural and communication perspective.
In order to better understand and test Google Glass as a communication and storytelling device a location based storytelling Glass application was built. Users were able to explore parts of Chinatown, Vancouver in a manner that linked what they were experiencing with contextually pertinent information on Google Glass. The combination of real world experiences and digital data proved to be an interesting experience for many users. Many of the users enjoyed being able to control how an experience unfolded for them, giving them a sense of agency.
Walkumentary was able to provide some key findings regarding eye-gaze wearables like Google Glass and their use in storytelling, experiential learning and communication. These findings have been extremely helpful in guiding further investigations into wearable technologies by providing a foundation to work from.