We have already seen a few establishments ban the use of Google Glass inside their buildings, but now one man claims those efforts went to another level. In an article on The Gadgeteer, the unidentified owner of the wearable computing device says that federal agents removed him from an AMC theater in Columbus, Ohio while he was watching a movie.
The man claims in his report that he had owned his Google Glass unit for two months and had worn them before to the same AMC theater. On Saturday, he wrote that he and his wife went to see "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit", and again he put on his Google Glass device because his prescription lenses were on the frame. He turned off the device before the movie began but later he claimed that a man with a badge came in, removed the Google Glass unit from his face and asked him to go outside the theater.
The rest of the report is about the man"s dealings with the "federal service" authorities who accused him of illegally taping the movie with his Google Glass unit. Both his wife and himself were questioned for several hours until finally the agents hooked up the device to a PC and saw that he had not recorded the movie. He then was given two free passes to see the movie again by an unnamed "Movie Association" representative, along with an apology.
The unlucky movie attendee admits it might have been a mistake to assume that it was OK to wear his Google Glass product in the theater even if he had done so in the past. So far, there"s been no outside confirmation on this incident.
Update: The Washington Post has received a statement from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department of the Office of Homeland Security that confirms this story. The statement reads:
On Jan. 18, special agents with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and local authorities briefly interviewed a man suspected of using an electronic recording device to record a film at an AMC theater in Columbus The man, who voluntarily answered questions, confirmed to authorities that the suspected recording device was also a pair of prescription eye glasses in which the recording function had been inactive. No further action was taken.
Source: The Gadgeteer | Image via Google