Technology Designs vs. Fashion Sense: Google Glass

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Google近期推出的Google Glass，打著結合時尚與科技創意設計的賣點，還未正式上市就已製造了話題！不讓蘋果的設計專美於前，現在各界都在引頸期盼屆時的市場反應。本文帶讀者一窺Google Glass。

進入本文前，請先想想以下單字：
(A) 網路創業公司
(B) 幕後花絮

As Google and other companies begin to build wearable technology like glasses and watches, an industry not known for its fashion sense is facing a new challenge: How to be stylish. Design has always been important to technology with products like Apple’s becoming fashion statements, but designing hardware that people will wear like jewelry is an entirely different task.

正當Google把科技跨足時尚之際，可穿戴的科技產品如眼鏡手錶等，正順勢而起。這樣的時尚潮流也讓科技業面臨了前所未有的市場挑戰：怎樣的產品才有型有款？設計一直都是科技產業重要的一環，如同蘋果產品的時尚潮流。不過，首飾類的科技產品對業者來說，又是個新挑戰了。

A computer you wear on your face that looks a bit like eyeglasses, Google Glass lets users take pictures or record video without using their hands, send the images to friends or post them online, see walking directions, search the Web by voice command and view language translations. Google Glass accesses the Internet through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth linked to the wireless service on a user’s cell phone. And users activate Glass by speaking, touching the frame, or moving their heads.

看起來像是戴著眼鏡，實際上卻是台電腦，這就是Google Glass！戴上Google Glass後，不需動手就可以聲控操作照相、攝影、上傳影像分享給朋友、看道路指南、搜尋網頁、讀取語言翻譯等。Google這隻眼鏡只要憑藉用戶手機的無線網路分享或藍芽就可以上網。甚至，只要聲控、碰觸鏡框或轉轉頭就可以啟動Google Glass。

“Changing behavior is much more challenging than changing technology,” said Olof Schybergson, founder and chief executive of Fjord, a design company that has helped clients build wearable devices. (1) In a sign of how acute the challenge is for Google, the company is negotiating with Warby Parker, an (A) e-commerce start-up company that sells trendy eyeglasses, to help it design more fashionable frames.

「改變行為模式比改變科技還要困難！」Fjord的創辦人兼執行長這樣說。Fjord這間設計公司已幫不少客戶訂製可穿戴的科技產品。有感於即將面臨的市場挑戰，Google正和一家電子商務創業的眼鏡公司Warby Parker洽談中，希望能與其合作，幫忙Google眼鏡設計更多有型又時尚的鏡框。

(2) In addition to considering partnering with Warby Parker, Google is doing other things to recruit the fashion-(3) savvy, particularly women. It could open retail stores where people can try on the glasses. At New York Fashion Week last year, models wore colored versions on the runway for Diane von Furstenberg, and the designer made a (B) behind-the-scenes video wearing the glasses.

除了與Warby Parker眼鏡公司合夥的計畫之外，Google也打算招聘具時尚感的女性員工，更計畫設立零售店面，讓民眾可以實際試戴眼鏡。在去年的紐約時裝週上，模特兒們在伸展台上展示了Diane von Furstenberg設計師的彩色鏡框，而設計師本人更是配戴眼鏡錄製了一段幕後花絮。

For Google, the glasses are a major step toward its dream of what is known as ubiquitous computing (ubicomp), the idea that computers and the Internet will be accessible anywhere and we can ask them to do things without lifting a finger. The biggest obstacle now is getting people to use them.

Google眼鏡是Google邁向夢想中普及運算科技的主要一大步。運用普及運算的主要概念是讓人們隨時隨地都可使用電腦和網路，甚至不需動到你一根手指頭。現階段最大的挑戰是，怎樣讓大家想用這副眼鏡。

正在想....

進入本文前，請先想想以下單字：
(A) 網路創業公司
(B) 幕後花絮

Hi Kathy:

So, what have you got?

網路創業公司: e-commerce start-up company

幕後花絮: Behind the Scenes

Kathy:

(applause) (applause) (applause)