The world through Glass: developing novel methods with wearable computing for urban videographic research

Abstract

Google Glass was deployed in an Urban Studies field course to gather videographic data for team-based student research projects. We evaluate the potential for wearable computing technology such as Glass, in combination with other mobile computing devices, to enhance reflexive research skills, and videography in particular, during field research. The utility as well as the limitations of Google Glass are discussed, including its actual and potential application for teaching and data gathering purposes in the field. As such, this article constitutes one of the first instances of evaluating Google Glass as a social science research tool.

Keywords::

• wearables
• Glass
• videography
• field course
• reflexivity
• mobile computing

Acknowledgements

The equipment for the field course was provided to the Urban Studies Program through a grant from the University of Pittsburgh's Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Dr Paterson's participation as a faculty instructor was underwritten by grants from the University's Global Studies and Asian Studies Centers. We are extremely thankful to the students who participated in this field course, and for the additional support of Bill Chase and the Urban Studies Program, the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

^1. Consisting of the wearable hardware, a charging cable, an earpiece, and a specially designed carrying pouch.

^2. See http://www.pitturbanstudiesinsingapore.wordpress.com for details on the field experience.

^3. Human Subjects clearances for the broader research project, “Researching Urban Mobilities and Place-Making in Southeast Asia” were granted by the University of Pittsburgh's Institutional Review Board (PRO14030507).

^4. For more observations on the students' use of Glass in the field, and the strategies students developed to integrate video footage from Glass into their field notes and blog posts, see Paterson and Glass (Submitted).