Most of us remember Google’s brief stint with consumer augmented reality smart glasses several years ago. That product, called the Google Glass, included an optical head-mounted display that was mounted to a glass frame. While it was definitely futuristic, it was never a product that saw mass consumer acceptance. An enterprise version is still around to this day, with the latest version being released in 2019. While Google doesn’t have more Glass-specific news to share today, they did make an announcement that will surely affect the company’s future in AR smart glasses. Google has announced today that they’ve acquired North, a Canadian tech company that made the “Focals” augmented reality smart glasses, for an undisclosed sum.
North will be contributing to Google’s tech in the AR space by joining the latter’s team in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. In the press release, Google says that the North team will continue to work on “ambient computing” technologies under Google. Following the acquisition, we could see Google use North’s tech for either improving the current Google Glass design or for making similar products. North’s Focals product provided a friendly take on smart glasses, more closely resembling regular glasses (in contrast to Google Glass) with a transparent display mounted on one of the frames to show things like messages and navigation directions. However, its $600 starting price was quite expensive, putting the smart glasses out of reach for the average consumer.
The company was preparing a successor to the first-generation Focals smart glasses, dubbed Focals 2.0, which has now been shelved as part of Google’s acquisition. The Focals app and account backend will cease functioning after July 31st, 2020, though customer support for the product will continue through to the end of 2020.
Google has said that buyers of the Focals will be fully refunded, which is a move that is sure to satisfy some consumers unhappy with this news. After all, the Focals are actual glasses, so it’s not like they can just be thrown away. Current owners of Focals may feel disappointed that the second-generation product won’t be shipping, but we’re excited to see the results of the company’s acquisition by Google.
Source 1: Google / Source 2: North
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‘Ms. Picard does sincerely recognize what has happened here,’ the judge said of her willingness to complete community service
Published Apr 24, 2024 • 2 minute read
Leaving her elderly father on a basement floor for two days in a soiled adult diaper won’t mean jail for a Calgary woman.
Justice Indra Maharaj accepted a joint Crown and defence submission on Wednesday for a two-year-less-a-day conditional sentence order for Tara Picard to be followed by 12 months of probation.
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Prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence counsel Shaun Leochko proposed a community-based term which will include eight months of 24-hour house arrest followed by a nightly curfew for the second eight months.
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Maharaj also agreed with the lawyers to order Picard to commit 300 hours of community service over the length of the three-year sentence.
The Calgary Court of Justice noted that amount of community-service hours was “a lot” to commit to.
But Maharaj said it showed Picard, 52, was truly remorseful for her conduct towards her father, whom Postmedia is not identifying because of the embarrassing nature of the facts of the case.
“What that shows me is Ms. Picard does sincerely recognize what has happened here,” the judge said of her willingness to complete community service.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to the community.”
Picard pleaded guilty in January to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life to her 77-year-old father.
Court heard caregivers found the elderly Calgary man on the basement floor of his daughter’s southeast home wearing a soiled adult diaper.
At the time, Picard was responsible for her father’s day-to-day care after he was moved to her residence, Spaner, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told court at the time.
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“He had a number of medical ailments, including non-insulin dependent diabetes, coronary artery disease, some early onset dementia-like symptoms and chronic alcoholism,” Spaner said.
“(He) had been living independently in a Calgary apartment building. Family members became concerned that he was not caring for himself safely.”
With the help of Alberta Health Services he was moved to a home where Picard resided.
A registered nurse assigned to his care attended the 38 Street S.E. home on Nov. 15, 2021, to drop off food bank supplies for him and was told he was sleeping downstairs.
When the nurse called about an hour and a half later and spoke to the man on the phone he said he was lying on the floor, had fallen and was unable to get up.
When she returned to the home with a co-worker she found the victim lying on his back on the floor.
“(He) said that he had been lying on the floor for two days,” Spaner said.
Leochko said Picard was overwhelmed by the situation she was thrust into.
“It really was more than she could handle,” he said.
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@juanhall: I gotta say, this was the most interesting bike in this post….love that Intense is experimenting with gearboxes…I can see it have a huge effect on DH bikes….thank god there’s still people pushing things. Now, they need to make an Enduro bike with the Pinion MGU!
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The City of Pointe-Claire would like to inform you that the Bob-Birnie arena will be closed for its annual maintenance as of Monday, April 29. The Annex rink will reopen to the public on Monday, May 13, and the arena’s Main rink will be accessible as of Monday, June 3.
Public skating will resume on May 13, and the summer public activities programming will begin on June 3 when both rinks have reopened to the public.
In addition to the annual maintenance of the facility, two renovation projects are also scheduled to start at the same time:
Installation of new sound systems
The City will be replacing its current sound systems in both the Main rink and Annex rink, to offer arena visitors a better overall experience, whether watching from the stands or participating in on-ice activities. This project is expected to be conducted throughout the month of May.
Renovation of locker rooms in the Main Rink
The City will also be renovating the five locker rooms located in the Main rink, to bring up to date the amenities currently available to participants. These renovations are expected to begin in early May and will be completed by mid-August.
For all information about the Bob-Birnie arena, visit the arena’s page on our website.
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