When Rescue Global deployed its team of field agents to the flooded area of Uttarakhand in India, they experimented with Google Glass. This new piece of computer equipment is effectively a smartphone built into a pair of spectacles. It enables a first responder to receive (on a heads-up display) map data and high-level information from a remote command base while streaming back real-time audio and video for analysis. Because the kit is activated by the wearer’s voice and eyes, the hands are left free for other activity. The field agent becomes a kind of cyborg, a vehicle capable of being remotely piloted as part of a larger strategic calculation, but also an autonomous body capable of going walkabout. It’s a short step from this to a drone. For more context, see http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Google-Glass-Help-First-for-First-Responders.html