The ZimmGlass Project took a new turn last week when I traveled to Missouri to see my Grandson Cruz. Yep, Cindy and I are now grandparents! While Cindy was holding him this morning I let him try out my ZimmGlass. He didn’t say too much about it though.

So, is Google Glass going to be a future tool for the agricultural journalist? Answering that question is part of the purpose of the ZimmGlass Project. I took it on the road last week to the AFBF Convention and tried it out, shooting photos and video interviews which have been published right here on AgWired. I’ll be back on the road with it tomorrow to the National Biodiesel Conference.

Here are some initial thoughts on using it in the field.

Battery Life Short – This is not a huge problem for someone like me who carries multiple extra mobile chargers like our new Golden ZimmComm Mobile Charger but could be frustrating if you’re out in the field away from an outlet for an extended period. It made me only turn it on when needed.

Data Hog – I chewed through a month’s data on my Verizon plan in a few days in part because I was allowing ZimmGlass to back everything up via Google+. I don’t need to do that and will turn that off. I’ll also be using wifi only whenever I can rather than the mobile network through my Samsung S4 mini.

Shooting Photos – I would like to have more control over the composition of my photos, focus point, lighting, etc. There are limited ways to share out the photos direct from the device too. For example, I can share it via my Twitter account but can’t compose a note to go with it. Photos came out quite good considering the specs of the camera but I would really like to see these improve significantly.

Shooting Video Interviews – This worked quite well but . . . in a noisy environment like a trade show it was difficult to get close enough to the person I was interviewing to hear them clearly. The sound quality in general was not great but certainly usable. I also found it awkward to be the tripod. Meaning that you have to hold your head absolutely still while doing questions/answers. That’s not natural but I think I can get used to it.

The more I’ve used my Glass the more comfortable I am with it and the quicker I am able to use it. I had a few instances of the device not responding and having to be restarted. Hey, it is a computer after all. And it’s a beta device.

So at this point I can see it becoming a device I use more and more assuming there are improvements in battery life and camera. I know there are many apps being built for Glass but I have not had time to work with many of them at this point.