Google Glass: New Tool For Ag
October 8, 2014 While much of the tech-gadget buzz amidst precision ag hovers around Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and other advanced robotics and sensing applications, there’s yet another soon-to-arrive technology that shows promise for ag retailers and crop consultants: Google Glass.
Glass, in beta testing as of presstime and carrying an introductory price tag at $1,500, is basically a wearable, interactive display that Bluetooth syncs with a user’s smartphone for Internet connectivity. Glass projects a quasi-translucent screen image (Google equates the screen to a 25-inch HD screen when viewed from eight feet away) just slightly above the users’ field of vision on the right side. Screen navigation within the device is accomplished by either barking out instructions (“OK, Glass, show me more cat memes) or via an intuitive swiping system that incorporates Glass’ touch sensitive earpiece.
Another noteworthy feature is the way Glass transmits sound, which is accomplished through the device’s built-in bone-conduction transducer, or BCT. The technology, which is deployed in a number of headphones already on the market, transmits sound vibrations to the users’ inner ear through the skull. No matter what the volume is set at, passersby can’t hear a single note.
Currently surgeons at Phillips Healthcare are using Glass during operations to monitor patients’ vital signs in real-time. Bruce Rasa, CEO, TekWear, foresees the technology being quite useful in agriculture one day as well.
“I think there’s unbelievable opportunity for this technology, such as using it for training (employees), in an industry like agriculture,” said Rasa during his InfoAg 2014 presentation. “And someone mentioned yesterday how you can take and make phone calls hands-free, and I think that’s particularly useful for an applicator sitting in a cab for hours a day.”
Rasa would know, having grown up on the family farm near Kansas City, MO, raising corn, soybeans, wheat, hay and cattle. His start-up, Buford, GA-based TekWear, is focused on developing an app for Glass that can be used by agronomists and crop consultants for data gathering and real time in-field agronomic recommendations. There are reportedly already a few apps, such as MyTrap Scout, that interface with Glass, but the release of an ag-focused, Glass-only app has yet to occur.
Glass For Agronomists
Rasa envisions several concept-level applications that would simplify life for a retail agronomist or other retail support employees.
“One of my favorite (applications) is probably remote tech support for precision ag,” says Rasa. “Basically, if someone wearing this device is out in the field working on a planter and they’ve typically got both of their hands full, maybe they need to troubleshoot something with someone at the dealer, or maybe the expert (for their problem) is halfway across the state. Now that person that’s halfway across the country can see exactly what the guy in the field sees, in real-time.”
Rasa additionally says there is high interest among agronomists for an in-field crop scouting app for Glass.
“In my work with agronomists recently, I was amazed first of all at the number of insects and weeds that are out there, and the number of varieties of them, and I was also amazed at the number of physical tools they need to take with them to the field,” says Rasa. “So now maybe they don’t have to have this bulky tablet with them, but they can still take notes and record field observations hands-free. The voice-input function is of high interest to the groups we’ve talked to.”
Glass could also one day interface with a fleet of UAVs or other remote-sensing technologies that collect data or imagery, stitching together data captured from overhead with ground-level imagery captured by Glass for a more well-rounded, contextual look at current field conditions and plant health status.
“It’s ‘air superiority plus boots on the ground’, if you will,” Rasa says.
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