Google Glass has been banned from all UK cinemas, only a week after the wearable tech was made available in the region.
The headsets have been banned due to concerns that they would be used to record movies, with the Cinema Exhibitors’ Association’s chief executive Phil Clapp saying: “Customers will be requested not to wear these into cinema auditoriums, whether the film is playing or not.”
However, Google has criticized the decision, with a spokesperson for the company calling the Glass a “lousy device” for recording things secretly, considering that the tech lights up whenever it is recording something. The spokesperson said: “We recommend any cinemas concerned about Glass to treat the device as they treat similar devices like mobile phones: simply ask wearers to turn it off before the film starts.
“Broadly speaking, we also think it’s best to have direct and first-hand experience with Glass before creating policies around it. The fact that Glass is worn above the eyes and the screen lights up whenever it’s activated makes it a fairly lousy device for recording things secretly.”
Earlier this year a man was detained in an AMC theater for wearing the Google Glass during a screening in Ohio, leading to him being interrogated by the FBI. The man told the agents that he couldn’t remove the headset as it was attached to his prescription lenses, though they continued to interrogate him for an hour, even searching through the photos and videos he had captured using the tech.
[Via The Independent]
