Casinos in several states of the US are banning gamblers from wearing Google Glass.
Regulators are concerned the gadget, capable of taking photos, shooting video and accessing the internet, could be used to cheat.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement recently issued a directive to Atlantic City’s 12 casinos to ban gamblers from wearing the glass, following similar edicts issued by regulators in Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Connecticut, among other places.
In a memo to casinos the division’s director, David Rebuck, wrote: “If these eyeglasses were worn during a poker game, they could be used to broadcast a patron’s hand to a confederate or otherwise be used in a collusive manner.”
There is already a long-standing prohibition of photographic and filming equipment in casinos, but as a new technology, Google Glass is attracting regulators’ attention as they keep pace with technology’s leaps.
A Google-issued statement acknowledged its Glass could present problems: “We are thinking very carefully about how we design Glass because new technology always raises new issues."
Security in many casinos will ask anyone wearing the glasses to remove them and, if they refuse, they will be removed from the premises.
That this issue is worth strong action shows regulator concerns for the effect the Glass could have in casinos. Rebuck wrote further in his directive: “Even if the glasses had not been used for cheating, their presence at a gaming table would lead to the perception that something untoward could be occurring, thereby undermining public confidence in the integrity of gaming."
