Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive

I reckon probably the most important thing to happen tech-wise in this country this week would be the smart glasses hitting New Zealand shop shelves, which means, of course, that all of the angst that's been going on in the rest of the world for the last three years about the so-called “perv glasses” is about to spark up here as people start getting themselves into trouble, I'd imagine, for filming with these things in places we don't want them filming with these things.

But can I suggest, before we all start getting worked up and calling for bans and stupid rules and restrictions and stuff, that we understand what these glasses mean for some people.

So I was really struck this week. I was listening to Pic Picot of the peanut butter business talk about these glasses the other day. He bought some overseas. He can't see very well, and he bought some overseas before they went on sale here, and he reckons this is a life changer for him.

He says with these glasses, for the first time in a really long time, he now knows what's going on around him. He can read the menu in his hotel by himself because the glasses tell him what it says.

Up to now, he's had to take a photo and zoom right in and then go bit by bit and try to read it. Imagine how frustrating that was. Imagine how different it is if the glasses are just reading your menu to you.

He can walk into a shop, he can ask the glasses what's happening, and the glasses will tell him there's a woman over there, a rack of glasses behind her.

It will store pictures, it will take pictures and store pictures of people he knows, and if that person comes up to him, it will tell him that person looks like somebody you know, and the person's name is Andy, or whatever it is.

He can read prices on clothes inside a shop. He can find his own size inside that shop now. And importantly, he can do this all by himself. He doesn't need help.

This has the potential to open the world up again for people who can't see well.

Now, I think we have a propensity, don't we, as humans to react really badly to new technology. It's the default setting that we have.

AI arrives, we go, “Oh, it's going to take the jobs.” We get freaked out about the facial scanning technology in Bunnings. We always do this, and so we're going to do it with the smart glasses.

And look, there are definitely things we need to be worried about with these glasses because they will normalise, eventually, constant filming of anyone and everyone.

They will allow the pervs to be more pervy than normal at the pool or the beach or whatever, and we are going to want to make some rules, and we're probably going to have to make some rules.

But when we have that impulse to set new rules, let's remember how much these glasses help some people.

Let's also remember that the people wearing these glasses are not all perverts. Some of them are people like Pic Picot, whose world's just got opened up thanks to new technology.
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New Meta smart glasses have been hailed 'life-changing' - for blind and low vision people
The glasses hit New Zealand shelves yesterday - and have built-in cameras which can be used to film what is in front of them, and have it answered by a remote helper, or AI.
But the technology's raised concerns over covert filming, and their potential to expose sensitive data to hackers.
Blind Low Vision NZ General Manager Dan Shepherd told Heather du Plessis-Allan he now has independence he hasn't had in decades - as someone with low vision.
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Health New Zealand's attempting to plug frontline workforce gaps - after this winter placed intense pressure on hospitals around the country.
It's launched a review of the 20-year-old approach to nursing staffing - and a business case looking at new models, like nurse-to-patient ratios.
It's also now recruiting for 380 new nursing, midwifery and health care assistants.
National Chief Nurse Nadine Grey told Heather du Plessis-Allan they'll be a mix of new graduates and overseas hires.
She says about a quarter will be hired for emergency departments, reflecting demand.
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A need for more testing - now a study has found a hormone-disrupting chemical in some of our drinking water.
Otago University research has found detectable levels estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals in some tap, bottled and tank water.
It's linked to ecological and human health effects, including reproductive health and declining fertility.
Fertility Associates Chief Medical Officer Dr Andrew Murray told Heather du Plessis-Allan it's important not to panic about this.
He says what researchers are suggesting is more routine testing - like what's done with bacterial contaminants in drinking water.
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