Google Glass: As Personal As a Computer Can Be

Technology and the Catholic Church

Some of you may have seen me walking around Saint John wearing a weird-looking item on my head.  It is called Google Glass, a computer that allows for pictures and videos to be taken directly from the point-of-view of the wearer.  It also allows the wearer to view and interact with information from the Internet, especially information about the world around them.

What does that have to do with the Catholic Church?

1.  Teaching Tool:  Imagine being able to show new Altar Servers, Lectors, and Eucharistic Ministers what it looks like when they are doing their job in front of all the parishioners.

Lighting the Thurifer

What if we could provide them training on specific duties from the point of view while doing the activity?  Google Glass allows us to do just that:

2.  Home-bound Support:  Many of us have watched a Mass from the comfort of our homes, whether because we have been ill, or hurt, or were not able to make it to Mass for one reason or another.  Most of those services feel passive, as if we are watching a TV show or movie.  The reason is the point of view.  The cameras for those Masses are placed in the back.  They are stationary.  Google Glass could allow us to stream the Mass from the point of view of a parishioner.  Sitting.  Standing.  Kneeling.  Hearing the people next to you and going up for communion.  This capability goes beyond Mass.  We could use it to assist home-bound or seasonal parishioners in joining in a memorial service or visiting a loved one.

3.  Parish Information:  The future of how people consume information is changing.  Many of our parishioners are used to only finding information about our church in the Sunday bulletin.  Others now find the bulletin on our website.  Even others are now reading the stories directly on the website.  At some point in the future, our parishioners will enter our church and be presented with that day’s readings and music as they sit down.  They will be able to follow along with the Opening Prayer through to the Recessional Song, all from their devices.  Google Glass is giving us an opportunity to be on the bleeding edge of Catholic and religious communications.