Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Possibly the world`s first cybernetic hate crime


Steve Mann the University of Toronto professor was at a McDonalds restaurant with his family in Paris France when three different McDonalds employees took exception to his "Digital Eye Glass" device and attempted to forcibly remove it from his head.
Mann was then physically removed from the store by the employees, along with having his support documentation destroyed.

Some background on Steve Mann taken from his blog:


"I wear a computer vision system, and carry a letter from my family physician, as well as documentation on this system when I travel.

I have worn a computer vision system of some kind for 34 years, and am the inventor of the technology that I wear and use in my day-to-day life.

Although it has varied over the last 34 years, I have worn the present embodiment of this system (pictured below) for 13 years. This simple design which I did in collaboration with designer Chris Aimone, consists of a sleek strip of aluminum that runs across the forehead, with two silicone nose pads. It holds an EyeTap device (computer-controlled laser light source that causes the eye itself to function as if it were both a camera and display, in effect) in front of my right eye. It also gives the wearer the appearance of having a "glass eye", this phenomenon being known as the "glass eye" effect (Presence Connect, 2002). Over the years the EyeTap has also therefore been known as the "Glass Eye" or "Eye Glass", or "Digital Eye Glass", using the word "Glass" in its singular form, rather than its plural form "Glasses" (See figure caption, "EyeTap digital eye glass", Aaron Harris/Canadian Press, Monday Dec. 22, 2003).

Recent news has described me as "the father of wearable computing" in the context of various commercially manufactured versions of similar eye glass, such as those made by companies like Google, Olympus, and the like (see below), so as this technology becomes mainstream, McDonald's might need to get used to it."

You can read more on the assault here




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