Google Glass adopted by Edinburgh Airport staff as wearables explode in popularity

At the airport, it's normal to see customer service staff equipped with phones, walkie-talkies and perhaps a tablet. Passengers travelling to and from Scotland who pass through Edinburgh airport will soon find that they are greeted by staff adorned with Google Glass. Google's wearable specs are to be trialled in the Scottish airport in a bid to provide more help and information to travelers.

Customer support representatives will be able to call up flight details and answer queries using the head-mounted Android-powered hardware.

Gordon Dewar, Edinburgh airport chief executive, explains: "We're always looking for new and innovative ways to improve the airport experience for our passengers and Google Glass trial is a great example of how we’re thinking out the box".

For now it is just a trial that runs until the end of the year, but if Google Glass proves useful, it could be rolled out on a permanent basis. "The fact it's the first trial of its kind in a UK airport is exciting, as it shows we are leading the way in how we interact with our passengers. Over the next few months we'll be able to establish whether this product is suitable for an airport environment".

The news of the airport's adoption of wearables comes as Juniper Research reveals that over the next three years shipments in this sector are set to quadruple. The report suggests that by 2017, shipments will rise to 116 million units compared to 27 million in 2014. It is predicted to be an incredibly lucrative market, with revenues soaring to an estimated $53 billion in 2019. With big players like Apple finally getting into the sector with the Apple Watch, it certainly seems that the momentum wearables have managed to garner will continue.

Photo credit: Mopic / Shutterstock