Farming Just Got Easier With Google Glass

Being a Glass owner has its own advantages, but being able to incorporate Glass in your business means going up to a new level. And since its purposes in one’s daily schedule are clear, in a company it could serve to a lot more activities, which besides communication, could also imply online searching and data handling.

One of the latest ways of incorporating Glass in an industry was presented by AdFarm’s Josh Lysne, director of digital strategy and Bruce Rasa, Development VP at Basecamp Networks, Alpharetta, during 2014’s Precision Ag Action Summit. Everyone present that day at the North Dakota Farmers Union Conference Center, was able to attend their presentation on how could Glass help farmers improve their work.

Past summer, Lysne received a Glass device in tests and after seeing what the device is capable of, he began seeking ways of incorporating it in the farming industry. After all, Glass is a hands-free device with almost the same capabilities as a smartphone; therefore it could easily be integrated in training activities, on field verification and easy communication.

Both of the speakers were very confident that Glass could give a louder voice to those working in this industry. However, it is uncertain whether it’s price is justifiable; after all, a big part of the workers barely use a smartphone. On the other hand, it could help on a higher level such as crop evaluations, evolution tracking and so on.

But we cannot make any more assumptions before hearing from more farmers that actually found a useful way of using Google’s device in their daily routine. So far, Glass hasn’t been released and until more people get the chance to test it, even its reliability stands in question.

Lysne sais that Glass could help when crop damage is involves, as it could identify the type of damage and request help. Or, the founder could video call someone and ask for advice in case of immediate need.

Both Rasa and Lysne believe that it is very important for people to know what Glass is about and that it is normal to reject change, even though it might mean a good thing. From their previous experience, everyone will get used to communicating with their gadgets in different ways and as Rasa says, the future depends on the type of software it will finally be launched with.

Among these interesting usage methods, he also pointed security enhancement. For instance, a farmer could search instantly the code of a chemical and find out how to use it safely. There are also talks about an app able to create interactive user manuals for new machines, by simply searching on Google the code bares encrypted on any operation.

As for the objections on Glass’s appearance we can say that by its release, Glass would certainly look better and less obvious. Another thing Lysne underlined on the way was the need for a smaller price and slight improvements such as better battery life, less weather damage and more innovation.