New York police explore using Google Glass to bust crime
10 Feb 2014
Google Glass now seems to have found one of its biggest potential partners ever - the New York Police Department (NYPD).
According to technology website Tech Radar, the NYPD had joined Google's beta testing project (called ''Google Glass Explorers'') and would be working over the next few months to determine how the wearable technology could be used in policing. The department has two Google Glass sets at present.
However, the department could also find that it had no use for Google Glass in work it does, the report said Stephen Davis, deputy commissioner.
Davis said the current interest in Google Glass stemmed mostly from the requirements of standard operating procedure for the department.
He said, recent years had seen the department trying to become more technologically-savvy, which called for testing and review of various types of devices and programmes that could prove helpful to law enforcement.
The New York Post quoted a source as saying it was in the early stages and a handful of people were testing it out and it could be helpful for police patrols who walked into a building with the glasses on.
According to commentators, the high-tech glasses - which integrated a computerised interface into the wearer's field of vision - could allow the police to instantly see a suspect's arrest record, photo and other details.
"It would be like the Terminator. One walked past somebody and one got his pedigree info if he was wanted for a warrant right on one's eye screen," the Post quoted its source as saying.
It added suspects could be immediately identified within seconds.
Apart from providing the police with instant internet access, the device could also be used to record audio and video of interactions with suspects and other members of the public.
The source added, that this would enhance the safety of officers and was a "win-win for both the cops and the public".
The use of the device has had both positive and negative outcomes. A doctor at the Ohio State University Medical School, used the device to give students a first-person look at a surgical procedure, while on the flip side, a California driver got a ticket for wearing the device (Woman driver wearing Google Glass gets ticket for speeding).
