Skip to main content

It was only a matter of time…..First marriage proposal using Google Glass hits the Web

Google GlassWhen Google unveiled its first ever video taken with its new head-based Glass gadget last May, we were presented with a 15-second point-of-view shot of somebody bouncing up and down on a trampoline. While it may not have caused any viewers to spit their coffee across the room in awe of the specs’ video capability, it was at least an indication of things to come.

Indeed, nine months later the Mountain View company followed up the trampoline video with something a little more creative. There were hot air balloons, ballet dancers, single-engine aircraft, skiers, parachutists, acrobats and giant human-enveloping bubbles. There was even a block of ice.

Suitably inspired, the first recipients of Glass – whether they be developers or winners of a recent competition – have been busy exploring various situations in which they might be used, with one Breon Nagy becoming the first to capture the life-changing moment he proposed to the special woman in his life. Yes, Glass has confirmed beyond doubt that where there’s a new gadget or social media platform, there’s a tech-head ready to incorporate it into a marriage proposal.

Arguably he could’ve recorded it with a smartphone camera, but 1- he might’ve had trouble opening the ring box with one hand, and 2- it’s already been done.

The 26-second video, which Nagy posted on YouTube (below) and his Google+ account, was shot recently at picturesque Leeds Castle in south-east England.

Star of the video is Amanda Ingle, appearing in a pair of specs rather more traditional than those worn by Nagy. As he goes down on one knee, the bright sky and Glass’s lack of exposure compensation unfortunately transforms Amanda into a silhouette, though Glass’s mic means we can still hear what’s going on (when the wind isn’t blowing on it).

After responding to Nagy’s proposal with a heartfelt “yes”, Amanda springs forward to hug her husband-to-be, almost smashing her face into Glass in the process.

Amanda narrowly avoids knocking Glass from her fiancé's face.
Amanda narrowly avoids knocking Glass from her fiancé’s face. Image used with permission by copyright holder

Of course, a groundbreaking product like this futuristic computer-on-a-face gadget is ripe for such “first” videos, and we can expect to see plenty more once it gets a commercial release some time next year. Whether the videos will be any good is, of course, another question entirely.

[Top image: Antonio Zugaldia]

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards
Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

Read more
Digital Trends’ Tech For Change CES 2023 Awards
Digital Trends CES 2023 Tech For Change Award Winners Feature

CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.

Read more
AI turned Breaking Bad into an anime — and it’s terrifying
Split image of Breaking Bad anime characters.

These days, it seems like there's nothing AI programs can't do. Thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence, deepfakes have done digital "face-offs" with Hollywood celebrities in films and TV shows, VFX artists can de-age actors almost instantly, and ChatGPT has learned how to write big-budget screenplays in the blink of an eye. Pretty soon, AI will probably decide who wins at the Oscars.

Within the past year, AI has also been used to generate beautiful works of art in seconds, creating a viral new trend and causing a boon for fan artists everywhere. TikTok user @cyborgism recently broke the internet by posting a clip featuring many AI-generated pictures of Breaking Bad. The theme here is that the characters are depicted as anime characters straight out of the 1980s, and the result is concerning to say the least. Depending on your viewpoint, Breaking Bad AI (my unofficial name for it) shows how technology can either threaten the integrity of original works of art or nurture artistic expression.
What if AI created Breaking Bad as a 1980s anime?
Playing over Metro Boomin's rap remix of the famous "I am the one who knocks" monologue, the video features images of the cast that range from shockingly realistic to full-on exaggerated. The clip currently has over 65,000 likes on TikTok alone, and many other users have shared their thoughts on the art. One user wrote, "Regardless of the repercussions on the entertainment industry, I can't wait for AI to be advanced enough to animate the whole show like this."

Read more