So far, the practical applications of Google Glass have been minimal. It’s the kind of technology that could revolutionize the world and how we live our lives, but most so far people are just getting paranoid about it, trying to use it for porn and filming themselves getting into fights. In the world of sports Chris Kluwe farted around with it in practice once, but other than that it’s been radio silence.
That’s about to change thanks to “Blue,” a feature for Google Glass that gives you realtime updates of baseball games while you’re sitting in a stadium watching them. You know, like your ears, eyeballs and deductive reasoning used to. Here’s a description:
It’s significantly more fun to attend a real baseball game instead of just watching it on television. But sometimes when you’re sitting at the ballpark, something slightly confusing will happen on the field and it’s never explained out loud. Maybe an umpire makes a call and it’s not entirely clear what happened. TV broadcasts have the advantage of commentators who can explain what’s going on.
That’s where Blue comes in. Blue uses geolocation to figure out which ballpark you’re sitting in. It knows who’s playing and automatically starts presenting data to you as the game unfolds — stats for every player and pitch, even play-by-play descriptions. Watch a pitch fly by, then Blue will tell you its speed and type. Wondering what call the umpire just made or why that runner got sent back to first base? Blue will let you know.
It’s okay, get up and grab another hot dog. Blue will keep delivering updates to you while you’re waiting in line at the concession stand, too. (via Papermodelplane)
Blue in action:
At the risk of sounding like a stereotypical sports columnist, a lot of the joy of going to a baseball game is in the intangible. The sights, the colors, the sounds, the smells … it’s never been important to me to know exactly what kind of pitch the pitcher threw within 0.5 seconds of him throwing it, its windspeed and the decibel level of it hitting the bat. Also, they’ve got a scoreboard if you need to know who’s pitching or batting. But sure, I get why this would be a fun novelty for baseball fans, or fans of ANY sport really, so if you’re stat-obsessed and don’t mind everyone around you watching your eyes roll up and to the right every time Sandoval takes a swing, go for it. Do you really need a thing that says HOME RUN inside of your sunglasses when somebody hits a home run? Everybody around you is screaming and there are pillars of steam firing. Context clues, guys.
I am still pretty okay going to a game without having to be the Terminator.
