Mediaboss Marketing

If you havent come across it yet, Google Glass is a spectacles frame without lenses but with a clear plastic, rectangular prism mounted on the right-hand side. This prism forms a virtual screen on which you can access the internet, just like on a smartphone or tablet, only with a roll of your eye rather than the stroke of a fingertip. If Glass takes off, well all be making videos, surfing the internet and more with just the blink of an eye, a tilt of the head, a swipe or tap on the frame, or a voice command.

LeDomaine offers guided tours of the abbey using Google Glass, so I set off with Juan Pablo, one of the hotels affable butlers. The glasses are surprisingly lightweight and I find them a bit fiddly to use, but when we arrive at the bottom of a grand flight of stairs, Juan says: Tap the side of the Glass. The voice of an American woman fills the space: The Baroque staircase was built in the 16th century. The angel sculpture in each corner is now the symbol of Abada Retuerta wine and appears on the label on the bottles.

Take a photo, I say aloud and feel quite a sense of achievement when I hear the glasses click. Juan tells me he can download the photograph to a memory stick for me to take home.

We walk around the cloister and enter the church. I tap the Glass again. The church was built in the mid-12th century and is Late Romanesque, the glasses inform me. But it is Juan who brings the space to life by telling me about the weddings and concerts held there.

Although privacy is an issue when using Glass in public places you can take photos and make videos so easily this is unlikely to be a problem at LeDomaine, where guests use the gadget to get information about the hotel.

LeDomaine has eight pairs of glasses. Guests can use the Glass all day if they like which is as long as the battery lasts.

At the moment the presence of Google Glass in the hotel feels like a bit of a gimmick, like a new toy, but clearly it could become a useful tool when it has been developed further. The hotel plans to develop more material, using the GuidiGo and Field Trip apps, so that guests can use Glass as they walk or cycle around the estate, getting information on birds, flowers, trees and the vineyard and, of course, the superb Abada Retuerta wines.

The hotel is nestled among vineyards in the province of Valladolid, 120 miles from Madrid

The storm I had been warned about meant that I didnt attempt to ride a bike around the vineyards while wearing the specs, but I could see that Glass could be great for exploring the countryside or cities to get information without having to get out your phone or, heaven forbid, an actual guidebook.

At LeDomaine, the experience is really just a bit of a fun, but I think I took in more information than I might normally have done, as wearing the device makes you focus and concentrate more. What Google Glass does enable guests to do, though, is tour the abbey and surf the web while leaving hands free to hold that all-important glass of the hotels Abada Retuerta wine.

See the article here:
A Google Glass tour at Abada Retuerta LeDomaine, Spain