Though Google has promised that its Glass product will offer plenty of real-life applications for users, the feature that most people are excited for is the camera. Being able to take pictures and shoot video from your own perspective is a real technological leap forward and is what will set Glass apart from regular smartphones as well as traditional cameras.
Even though the camera hardware inside Google Glass is capable of taking HD photos and videos, the software isn’t quite up to par. Lighting is a huge issue, as pictures taken in full sun wash out images while pictures taken in the shade come out blurry or unfocused. Capturing targets in motion is also an issue, as images with moving subjects often blur, which ruins the first-person perspective that has been the hallmark of the Glass experience.
Fortunately, Google has recognized this issue and is rolling out its first major update to Glass, aimed at drastically improving the camera software. According to Gizmodo, the update will include better low-light detection and will automatically compensate with elevated brightness and sharpness in dim-light situations.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Google Glass camera will also automatically take HDR (High Dynamic Range) photographs in bright situations. For the uninitiated, HDR is a feature that takes multiple photos at different exposure levels and combines them into a single, dynamic image that highlights the low-lit areas with higher exposure and tones down extra brightness.
In addition to these light-correcting features, the new camera software will also capture moving targets with less blurriness. The overall result will be a camera that takes true-to-life photos and will replicate the image your eye sees with greater clarity.
Outside of image quality, the update also will add support for a feature many users have been asking about for awhile now: photo captions. Now, when you share a picture, you add a caption simply by speaking, and then you can share the captioned photo directly to your favorite social network or online storage site.
Though Google Glass is still firmly in beta testing, the company expects to release the product to the general public sometime next year. The device has definitely hit a couple of snags along the way, but it looks like every feature, including the camera, will exceed consumer expectations when the product finally does see a general release.
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