Cops In Dubai Are Using Google Glass To Catch Speeding Drivers

If you think traffic light cameras and discreet roadside cops are irritating enough, authorities may upgrade to Google Glass for catching speeding drivers soon enough.

Police in Dubai have begun using Google's wearable display in an effort to capture traffic violators, according to a report by Gulf News spotted by The Verge.

The technology is currently being tested by the Dubai Police Smart Services Department using two applications for tracking road-bound crimes.

One app allows police officers to take photos of traffic violations using Glass, which would instantly be uploaded to the police department's system. The other application helps authorities identify wanted cars.

If successful, Google Glass would make it extremely simple for officers to catch traffic offenders.

Police would simply tap the side of the smart eyewear to snap a photo, and the image along with the date, time, and location at which it was taken would be stored in its system.

A cop would only need to look at a license plate number while wearing Glass to determine whether or not the vehicle is wanted by the authorities. The app would automatically cross reference the plate number with the traffic department's database. If a cop does spot a wanted vehicle, the app would display a notification.

"If it passes our testing criteria as well as we see that it is a useful device, then we might decide to launch it and buy more of it," Colonel Khalid Nasser Al Razooqi said to Gulf News.

This isn't the first time we've seen police officers using Google Glass, but the fact that its spreading to different markets hints that it could play a large role in law enforcement in the future. In February, the New York Police Department announced that it was field testing Google Glass in "a variety of circumstances." CopTrax, a surveillance vendor, also collaborated with police in Byron, Georgia to install software on Glass for recording traffic violations.

Google Glass, which just became available for anyone in the U.S. last week, is still in early testing. You can buy it for $1,500, but it's not exactly what the final product will be like. However, despite the fact that it's still in beta, we've already seen may implementations of how it could be used in the workplace. From easily checking in passengers at airlines to improving medical procedures, Glass is already making its way into various fields.