Wearable Technology for the Farm.

Reading my July issue of No-Till Farmer, an article on Google Glass caught my eye.  The product fits on eyeglass frames and connects to your smart phone.  It sells for about $1500.  It allows the use of voice commands to perform it's functions.  Google Glass is being looked at by various agricultural leaders for its potential in field use.  The hands free feature makes it an attractive alternative to smart phones or tablets alone. Picture and video recording would allow the user to transmit crop problems to experts, or possibly even expert web sites to diagnose problems.  The ability to look at training videos and mechanical instructions hands free in the field seem like they could be valuable features.

I would like to be able to wear my GPS maps in the field instead of having them mounted on my four wheeler.  Google Glass is a product that certainly strikes the imagination.

A down side might be price.  Another downside might be battery life.  Google says the battery will last a day under "normal" use.  Other reviewers put that battery life at an hour.  An hour will not let me pull many soil samples.

I am curious how this technology might be combined with unmanned aerial systems.  It would seem that the miniature circuitry could possibly be utilized to analyze and view aerial photography in real time. 

Google glass technology may also be a way to consolidate and miniaturize all those monitors hanging around in your machinery. 

Most of this is just a look into the future, but we all know how fast technology can be implemented when there is a demand.