Newt Gingrich joins entertainers, athletes as Google Glass 'explorer'

Attention zoo and museumgoers: Newt Gingrich could soon be filming you without your knowledge.

CNet reported on Saturday that Gingrich was among the nearly 3,900 winners of Google's raffle to determine the first paying customers for its new "Google Glass" line of $1,500 eyeglasses.

The company encouraged people to enter by using the hashtag #ifIhadglass and saying what they would use the special glasses for. Gingrich said he would use them "on tours of zoos and museums to share the animals and fossils." Gingrich joined celebrities like actors Neil Patrick Harris and Alyssa Milano, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder and rapper Soulja Boy, who promised to feature them in a music video.

However, according to TechRadar, several winners had to give up their early users (or "explorers," as Google is calling them) because they can't afford to pay for the eyewear.

The glasses will allow users to film video or go online through voice commands, prompting criticism that as they become more available, they could lead to a rise in "creepshots," photos and recordings frequently targeting young women while they're unaware.

"Google Glass could make it so virtually every interaction a man has throughout the day becomes a creepshot, from staring down a cashier's top at breakfast, to leering at his coworker's cleavage, to glancing over at his daughter's teacher's ass after picking his kid up from school," Gizmodo noted on March 15.

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