This tear-inducing video may actually sell you on Google Glass
YouTube
A man packs a red duffel bag, bids his young wife goodbye, and embarks on a journey from San Francisco to India, where he surprises his mother.
It's a touching video that brought me to tears (shocker!). But as the last card reveals, it's actually a Google-Glass produced short film called Seeds. And before you feel duped and disregard it as just a schmaltzy commercial, the video is actually... impressive.
The first-person perspective feels urgent and personal, as though you are checking your bags at the airport, hailing a rickshaw, dangling your feet off of a fast-moving train, climbing into a canoe, and tapping a sari-clad woman on the back.
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Whether the story is real or not doesn't matter. The video allows you to imagine how you might capture the heartwarming moments in your own life. Glass has created similar videos before (there's one called "Marry me [through Google Glass]" that luke-warms the heart). But Glass has learned from its mistakes. Seeds excels by omitting shots of the wearer. You're not reminded of how idiotic you'd look wearing the high-tech headgear. It's marketing brilliance. Watch below for yourself. --Lauren Hansen
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Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.
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