Professor wearing Google-style glasses got assaulted by McDonald's workers

[garyopa]

No one knows what was the real reason.



A Toronto professor, being described as a 'pioneer in wearable computing', was allegedly assaulted in a Paris McDonald's by workers who objected to his Google-style glasses.

Steve Mann, a professor at the University of Toronto, was allegedly assaulted in a Paris McDonald's by people who allegedly work for the restaurant.

The man -who some describe as a pioneer in wearable computing- was wearing his Eye Tap Digital Eye Glass, which are pretty similar to Google's Project Glass.

This device records video and streams it, with augmented data, directly onto his retina.

He said that -while in a McDonald's on the Champs-Elysees with his wife and children- someone who claimed to be a McDonald's employee asked him about the Digital Eye Glass he was wearing, and things got ugly from here:

This employee was allegedly satisfied when Mann showed him documentation (a note from his doctor) about the contraption.

What followed, though, was an alleged Mann handling.

After sitting down with his family and his Ranch Wrap, Mann says that another McDonald's employee wrapped his hands around his head and tried to tear the Digital Eye Glass off.

"He angrily grabbed my eyeglass, and tried to pull it off my head. The eyeglass is permanently attached and does not come off my skull without special tools," wrote Mann.

He then says that this man took his documentation and crumpled up a letter from his doctor, while another man -- also an alleged McDonald's employee -- allegedly destroyed his other papers.

He then says he was pushed out on to the street.

Now, he was able to get pictures of the perpetrators, because of a "funny" thing about the glasses design:

The irony is that the only reason the camera on the invention stored the image of the perpetrators is because they broke it as they roughly shoved him out the door. Mr Mann says the EyeTap would not have otherwise kept the data on its hard drive.

McDonald's stated the following:

On its Twitter feed, the company said: "Hi @STEVEPMP We take the claims very seriously, are in process of gathering info & ask for patience until all facts are known. Thank you."

Following an inquiry by the Huffington Post, the company declared: "We take the claims and feedback of our customers very seriously. We are in the process of gathering information about this situation and we ask for patience until all of the facts are known."

Mann said: "I just want my Glass fixed, and it would also be nice if McDonald's would see fit to support vision research."

No one knows what these McDonald's employees might have objected to...

Even if they suspected that Mann was taking photographs or filming, this is what many people do. They are generally called tourists.

So what might these McDonald's employees have been trying to hide?

Might they have feared that Mann's contraption could see through to their trouser pockets, where they stash secret supplies of McDonald's infamous pink slime?

Might they ever have been paranoid that Mann's Eye Glass could see right through to their underwear, where he discovered they all wear company-issued red and yellow striped briefs?

Or might they have simply had childhoods in which they were petrified by the bad guys on "Star Trek"?

Dr Mann's EyeTap Digital Eye Glass was first developed in 1999, about 13 years before Google introduced its vaunted Google Glass AR technology earlier this year.

It looks like the general public is not yet ready for this kind of tech. What do you think?

NEWS SOURCE #1: Google-style-glasses led to attack in McDonalds professor says (via) CNET
NEWS SOURCE #2: EyeTap augmented reality pioneer Steve Mann assaulted Paris McDonalds employees (via) DailyMail

Our thanks to 'Gauss' for this news item!

[Diztructor]

or maybe some dude is in your face taking snap shots, which yea even id give him a chin for invading my personal space, if the guy is getting cleaver then id shove them glasses where the sun dont shine.

[billysastard]

or maybe some dude is in your face taking snap shots, which yea even id give him a chin for invading my personal space, if the guy is getting cleaver then id shove them glasses where the sun dont shine.

check out the pics before commenting, it will make you look less of an arse, if you do look, they came up to him and invaded his space.

[wewii]

I totally agree with the McD worker. EDIT: Expect for physically harming the man.

Thanks to Google (and other wanna-be's) the world is going to be full of pricks filming live everyone that doesn't want their faces filmed.

Cops, Border gaurds, asshole youtubers, and plenty of other assholes will be filming your face and conversion if you want to initiate any sort of human contact with these pricks.

This prof deserved what he got.

"The irony is that the only reason the camera on the invention stored the image of the perpetrators is because they broke it as they roughly shoved him out the door. Mr Mann says the EyeTap would not have otherwise kept the data on its hard drive"

I don't give a crap about the technical details of your in face camera. Its not my job to figure out whether you are spying on me, recording me, or just streaming the video live without permanent backup.

If a person was walking around with a smartphone, pointing it in everyone's face, that phone would be smashed into pieces very quickly.

Tech enthusiasts something get so worked up, that they forget that technology can be a very invasive and annoying thing to other people.

Just because you have a boner for new technology doesn't mean that you have the right to violate other people's right to privacy and social comfort levels.

[Diztructor]

check out the pics before commenting, it will make you look less of an arse, if you do look, they came up to him and invaded his space.

learn to read before commenting, i never said it was what happened it was just a suggestion to say or maybe, the whole story smells of BS and seems this guy is either bullsh1tting or is cutting out the facts.

and to your reply, if you care to read the full article and not smell BS then who is the arse..... you.

your telling me if you got assualted in a store by its employees you wouldnt seek further legal action and compensation..... instead you request that mcdonnalds fix (what could have already been broken) glasses and look into supporting his vision research.

you mention look at pictures, and what pictures, theres no pictures that show of an attack, but also goes to show that hes comment is flawed aswell, aparently images only store at its final stages.

so how long is FINAL IMAGES, how he has managed to walk from the till, to then speak with a manager, to then sit down and yet nothing, no images showing a struggle or staff actually trying to remove the glasses.


so tell you what, dont see a post from me in a topic and then come to insult, seriously thats just sad.

[Cyber Akuma]

I totally agree with the McD worker.

Thanks to Google (and other wanna-be's) the world is going to be full of pricks filming live everyone that doesn't want their faces filmed.

The worker coulden't have been more in the wrong.

First of all, learn the difference between public and private, you are to have no expectation of privacy in public. If you go out in public, and someone snaps a picture of you, tough, thats why its public.

However, the worker DID both invade Mann's personal space AND essentially assult him when he tried to tear off his glasses. How about not being an entitled **** and ASK people not to take pictures? Most would be more than willing to comply. Embarasment can go a long way, tell someone you don't want to be photographed or filmed and I promise you 99% of people will get embarrased and delete what they recorded. The worker just came up to Mann and tried to tear the glasses off his head, I hope he gets eaten alive in court.

Just because you got offended by something does not give you the right to go HULK SMASH with other's personal property. I promise you if you ever attacked me I WILL see you in court, pretty hard to deny it when my phone or glasses or whatever recorded you in the act.

[wewii]

First of all, learn the difference between public and private, you are to have no expectation of privacy in public. If you go out in public, and someone snaps a picture of you, tough, thats why its public.

There is a huge difference between the extremely unlikely event that somebody actively takes my photo VS the thousands of EyeGlass wearing pricks (coming soon) which will film everything they experience 24/7.

Just look at all the retards who love Apple iTards. Give these tools to those morons, and you got a huge societal problem on your hands.

Big Brother has moved from officials spying on everyone to.... dumbass iSheep spying on everyone. The exposure is much much greater.

How practicle do you think it will be if I don't want my picture taken, and I have 1000 people taking my photo every day as they walk to work.

[Battlefield]

Sometime i think he might get a few punches in the face for using these glasses because he looks so stupid when wearing it.

It looks very retarded and nerdy. I see people wearing big Bluetooh ear plugs all day long even when they dont speak much in the phone at all DOH. They use it to act cool, but people laugh at them instead. Those people also look retarded...but camera glasses is even worse.

Fitting gadget electronics on the head at all looks retarded, but advanced helmets in a sci-fi movie/game among other things looks cool thou.

[Cyber Akuma]

There is a huge difference between the extremely unlikely event that somebody actively takes my photo VS the thousands of EyeGlass wearing pricks (coming soon) which will film everything they experience 24/7.

Again, its public. Dosen't matter if there is one person recording or hunderds, its public. And its up to them if they want to upload their own lives 24/7. Why does it matter to you exactly? Its not like hundreds of people will all be tracking you and you specifically with them.

You seem to have a massive aversion to your face being put online, why exactly? Unless you have never been to a public event in your life, I promise you your face has already appeared in the background of some photo or video someone recorded for their friends and nobody cared because said friends would not know who you are nor would you have been the focus of the picture, you would have just been one of hundreds of strangers in the background to them.

Its not like the glasses are putting a frame around your face amongst a crowd of people and identifying who you are for the world to see.

Just look at all the retards who love Apple iTards. Give these tools to those morons, and you got a huge societal problem on your hands.

Big Brother has moved from officials spying on everyone to.... dumbass iSheep spying on everyone. The exposure is much much greater.

Ok, seriously, as much as I hate Apple too (and their fanboys even worse), you are showing a massive lack of debate skills here. Just slinging insults and name calling is not going to make your side of the argument look any more valid, try to present your point rationally, not out of anger and bias. You seem to be a bit TOO fixated on the whole "iSheep" mentality, you're acting like a knee-jerk radical, not a rational person.

[wewii]

Why does Google block out license plate and faces on StreetView..... Because they are trying to respect people's privacy.

Why do TV producers require your consent to show you on TV, for almost anything.... because they require my authorization.

I don't give a crap about debating, if technological advance is a one sided argument. Its the wild west of fruity nutjobs too stupid to see how annoying & enslaving some of their inventions will be to the general public. Especially those who don't want no part of it.

With facial recognition technology well on its way, you can now be easily identified in any of these Glass wearing pricks videos/photos after the distribute it on youtube or whatever other system of distribution.

You don't believe me.... look at how many people have lost their jobs because some stupid friend posted their embarrassing photo on facebook. Now multiply by 1000 strangers posting your presence (skipping work, partying too hard, doing something embarrassing, picking your nose at work, whatever)

The technology industry is full of nut jobs willing to experiment on the public, at the public's expense, without their consent.

The difference between an isolated incident & systematic abuse is the frequency of the behaviour.


Don't agree with me.... then try taking my photo of my face without my consent and see how fast I can DELETE your precious device from existence.

[Cyber Akuma]

Why does Google block out license plate and faces on StreetView..... Because they are trying to respect people's privacy.

Because

1. The license plate is a unique identifier that can be traced back to you even by people who have never seen you before

and

2. They aren't required to

Its also more for your PROTECTION than your privacy. If people know your license place number, they can follow you as well as know what kind of care you drive and where it is.

Much harder to near impossible to do that with a face.

Why do TV producers require your consent to show you on TV, for almost anything.... because they require my authorization.

Wrong, its because they are doing it FOR PROFIT.

When you do something for profit it opens up a whole different can of worms in terms of legality and whatnot. And technically, they still aren't required to in many cases but do it just to avoid the hassle of fighting it in court.

Ironically, calling attention to it like this is the quickest way to get everyone to notice you, remember "The Streisand Effect"?

What do you think people will notice more in a youtube video? An ordinary stranger walking by the background of hundreds of other strangers, or the one stranger that gets up in the camerman's face about videotaping him? And if said stranger is rude, how likely is the cameraman to put the video up out of spite?

Its the wild west of fruity nutjobs too stupid to see how annoying & enslaving some of their inventions will be to the general public. Especially those who don't want no part of it.

THE SKY IS FALLING!
THE SKY IS FALLING!
<GLaDOS>That's you! That's how dumb you sound!</GLaDOS>

Seriously, try actually being RATIONAL about this instead of calling one of the biggest innovators in technology with the motto of "do no evil" as fruity nutjobs enslaving you, you are NOT helping your side of the argument.

With facial recognition technology well on its way, you can now be easily identified in any of these Glass wearing pricks videos/photos after the distribute it on youtube or whatever other system of distribution.

You watch too many movies.

Do you have any idea how that tech works?

Facial Recognition, Retena scans, fingerprints, DNA.... its all useless without a database to match it against. There isn't some big giant database out there that has everyone's biometrics on file. A face or fingeprint is useless if they don't know who it belongs to. Why do you think police release sketches and wanted posters if they could just search by face?

You don't believe me.... look at how many people have lost their jobs because some stupid friend posted their embarrassing photo on facebook. Now multiply by 1000 strangers posting your presence (skipping work, partying too hard, doing something embarrassing, picking your nose at work, whatever)

1. No, thats from idiots posting ON THEIR OWN Facebook about their OWN activities. Many of them are completely inapproriate or even illegal, and they are stupid enough to make their Facebook public. Thats like printing out flyers of your facebook posts and posting them all over the city. (Another one is complaning and insulting clients, students, co-workers, or their boss on their own Facebook, or posting confidential information).

2. This is typically due to illegal activity. If you are stupid enough to do narcotics or steal or whatever in the first place, DONT POST IT ON FACEBOOK. And DONT DO IT IN A PUBLIC PLACE. Don't blame advances in technology for getting caught. Whatever yo do in private is private (unless you are stupid enough to post it on a public Facebook). If you are doing it in public, well, its public, you are not expected to have privacy in a public area.

3. Again, unless you call attention to yourself by doing something stupid (like purposely making a big deal that someone took a picture of you along with hundreds of others in a crowd) nobody is even going to notice you, much less know who you are.

The technology industry is full of nut jobs willing to experiment on the public, at the public's expense, without their consent.

Yeah, inventing cameras is not "Expirementing on the public", sorry if you didn't realize that what you do in public is public, not private.

If it wasn't for these "nutjobs" we wouild still be in the 17th century of technology. Oh no, I'm coughing, better go to the doctor to cure it with bloodletting.

Don't agree with me.... then try taking my photo of my face without my consent and see how fast I can DELETE your precious device from existence.

As I said, try that and see how fast I SUE your wallet from exsistance.... and still manage to get that photo or video out anyway thanks to automatic online syncing. Thanks for making people actually pay attention to my photo by making such a big deal about it instead of ignoring it like the dozens of others in the background that didn't care.

I guess I should use that magic online database that has everything on everyone in exsistance to track you down and take a picture :P

[wewii]

Your reasoning is so fuc*ing stupid.

F*** all tech brainwashed retards.....

You have every say on how I am subjected to your technology.

While I am powerless to protect my self from these nut jobs...

Say these cameras choose shoot naked photos of you under your cloths...... would that be OK.... just because I am in the public.... F**K NO!

I HAVE THE GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO BE IN THE PUBLIC, WITHOUT THE CONCERN OF BEING FILMED BY YOUR STUPID ASS. YOUR STUPID TECH HAS NO RIGHT IN DENYING ME MY FUC*ING FREEDOM AND LOWERING MY QUALITY OF LIFE.

Until that balance of power changes...... these people can f*** off, or expect their devices to be broken.

Big Brother has released a legion of f**king retards who think they are entitled to do anything just because they can.

Sue me... go ahead you prick. Ill break your next iCrap device too. If enough iTards get their crap broken, then they will think twice before pointing their cameras at unsuspecting people.

Just to join the fruit nutjob tech crowd:
I'll create glasses that shoots high EMPs every time it scans a camera device pointed at it. Based on your tech free-for-all mantra, I can do as I see fit.

[msanchez]

Your reasoning is so fuc*ing stupid.

F*** all tech brainwashed retards.....

You have every say on how I am subjected to your technology.

While I am powerless to protect my self from these nut jobs...

I HAVE THE GOD GIVEN RIGHT TO BE IN THE PUBLIC, WITHOUT THE CONCERN OF BEING FILMED BY YOUR STUPID ASS. YOUR STUPID TECH HAS NO RIGHT IN DENYING ME MY FUC*ING FREEDOM AND LOWERING MY QUALITY OF LIFE.

Until that balance of power changes...... these people can f*** off, or expect their devices to be broken.

Big Brother has released a legion of f**king retards who think they are entitled to do anything just because they can.

Sue me... go ahead you prick. Ill break your next iCrap device too.

Just to join the fruit nutjob tech crowd:
I'll create glasses that shoots high EMPs every time it scans a camera device pointed at it. Based on your tech free-for-all mantra, I can do as I see fit.

... rough day dude? Look don't get all worked up, but I can't say I agree with you either. He is right, if you are in public you have no privacy, save for someone coming up to you and feeling on you or something similar. Taking a photo in a public place can't be considered an invasion of privacy, maybe if there's multiple photos in multiple locations you could argue you're being stalked, but just think how the judge will look at you when you tell him you broke that tourist camera because while walking in time square he took a pic of his family while you where passing by in the background.

Even if the guys was filming them for some weird documentary on the habits of losers, they have no right to do that, or can I punch fast food/retail store employees everytime they act like idiots?

I think you're getting too excited over this... chill out a bit, heck if somebody is taking a pic while you're walking by, make a funny face and the biometrics system might be fooled

[wewii]

..............

OK I am gong to create a camera that can film you naked under your clothing.

Since you there is no privacy in public, I can film anyone naked and post it on youtube and email it to every news agency.

Don't agree... well then there is something wrong with your logic.

[msanchez]

OK I am gong to create a camera that can film you naked under your clothing.

Since you there is no privacy in public, I can film anyone naked.

If you're a chick... go ahead... if you're a dude, meh! don't care, but I don't swing that way so just don't get your hopes up LOL!

I'm not sure that's illegal right now (taking pics with your hypothetical x-ray camera) as I don't think there are laws that have had to deal with that particular case, but I'm sure that even if there's no laws that dictate what to do in that case, the moment such cameras come out they'll be created... but that still won't change the fact that the bystanders still won't have the right to go manhandle the photographer, definitely NOT in the case of a normal pic, and probably not even in the case of the x-ray photo. Remember this is not the old west, civilians are not meant to take the law into their own hands... unless you live in texas and somebody is in your property... anything is fair game then.


*edit* why did you edit your edit? THAT my friend is the answer to the dilemma of somebody taking video of you without your consent, though I'm not sure that will work for a pic. Still, whatever you decide to do, the first thing you must do is ask the other party to "STOP" filming/photographing you, not gang up on some poor nerd with weird glasses *edit*