When earlier this year Google acknowledged it was shifting its focus for Google Glass to the enterprise market, the potential use cases were thrilling — if a little esoteric. Firefighters could access building maps. Professional hockey teams could deliver real-time stats to fans at the rink. Custom applications, in other words, serving very narrow purposes.

There’s a bigger story with Glass, one that starts with a native feature built right in to every headset (even the first prototypes) — video.

Because for businesses around the world, video is already the fastest-growing communications tools out there. Real-time video conferencing and webcasting are standard parts of many meetings, and the market for on-demand video for training, communications, social learning, and presentations is expected to triple in the next few years. By 2016, Gartner Research anticipates every employee at every organization will spend 45 minutes each day watching business video.

So what does video have to do with Google Glass? Everything.

As a hands-free wearable mounted right over the eyes and built to capture 720p HD video, Google Glass is about to set a new standard for simplicity for both recording and viewing point-of-view video.

Just what does that make possible? For a sample, follow along as Harry from Panopto’s own customer support team demonstrates how to install a video Datapath card — as recorded with Google Glass and Panopto.

Any organization that relies on the physical, on-location activities of their employees can now look to Google Glass as both a means to see the world the way their front lines do, and as a means to provide on-demand, step-by-step visual training content with those same team members.

When it comes to recording, organizations already rely on some limited types of point of view video as a means of capturing knowledge —

• Screen-recording tools can be used to capture whatever’s on a computer screen, and have already become excellent tools for documenting processes and programs
• Fixed or mounted cameras are often essential to capturing live demonstrations and training activities, and offer a third-person point of view for those watching the recording
• Onboard laptop webcams enable individuals to record themselves sharing expertise and best practices — video that is quickly becoming essential for businesses seeking to capture their subject matter experts’ wisdom so it isn’t lost when the expert leaves.

Google Glass merely takes those existing practices and makes them exponentially more flexible. Remote activities that wouldn’t have budget for an AV team to record — say, a service technician for an electric company demonstrating how to fix a common issue at a power station, or the regional manager of a retail chain showing store managers how to merchandise for the spring season — can now be captured and shared with a simple “Ok Glass, record a video”.

When that video is uploaded to an organization’s central video library and shared — and Google Glass video can be uploaded and shared in Panopto with just a few clicks — that video can then be watched by other employees anytime, anywhere, on any other device (tablets, smartphones, laptops — anywhere!)

Here at Panopto, for instance, other members of our service team can now call up Harry’s video any time they may need to install a Datapath card in the future. And thanks to Glass, they can follow his steps simultaneously — as though Harry were right there to guide them through the process. Best of all, that help is available to them anytime day or night — so even if Harry is on a call, or on vacation, or asleep half a world away, he can still be sharing his expertise with the rest of our team.

Already organizations are seeing video training help employees improve on-the-job performance. Glass offers the potential to raise that to the next level:

• Giving staff at manufacturing organizations the ability to see exactly how each step of a production process should work in order to identify issues or fine-tune techniques
• Enabling healthcare professionals to access a library of recorded point-of-view surgical demonstrations and patient simulations in order to better diagnose and treat patients as needed
• Helping retail and service organizations coach front line staff on performance, by recording and reviewing on-floor interactions

The real enterprise applications for Google Glass are only just being uncovered. And while the tool may be new, the technology that will make a real difference right away is one we already know and rely on — video.

Try it today!
See for yourself just how easy the Panopto video platform makes it to record and share video from any device — even Google Glass. Contact our team for a demo, or request a free trial of our software today.