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From Robocop to Roboshopper: the Google Glass apps keep coming

Google Glass is generating a lot of interesting ideas lately. A couple of new ones that caught my eye are an app from Mutualink designed to assist emergency services personnel, and a Glass version of Amazon’s Price Check app.

Mutualink’s app, spotted on TechCrunch, is designed to enable emergency responders to get access to key documents on-scene. Examples they give are a firefighter being able to see layout plans before entering a burning building, a police officer being able to tap into live CCTV feeds from the surrounding area and medical personnel being able to access medical records and transmit video footage back to a hospital for review by specialists … 

Mutualink is well aware that the benefits of Glass-equipped emergency service workers come with substantial privacy concerns, and says that as specialists in real-time data-sharing, control over the flow of that information is core to its approach. The company’s existing services are used by NATO Special Operations Forces, Homeland Security, police and fire departments.

NYPD is already running a pilot scheme designed to give police officers access to similar information via an Android app.

Less controversially, but perhaps no less worrying for bricks-and-mortar retailers, SelfScreens (via The Verge) reports on a price-comparison app with similar functionality to Amazon’s Price Check but with the convenience of Glass.

As the video below shows, with Crystal Shopper you simply hold up a product barcode, and the app checks the highest and lowest price on Amazon, enabling you to choose between the instant gratification of immediate purchase and the lowest price. You can also see the star-rating, but as yet can’t read any of the reviews.

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