“I’m sure I recognize you from somewhere. Have we met before?” We’ve all heard or used this line before, to initiate a conversation with someone who looks familiar at a networking event, or perhaps even as a pickup line in a bar.

Well now you can avoid the awkwardness of trying or pretending to jog your memory, and just go straight into a personal greeting – if you are wearing Google Glass that is.

“Hi Bob, pleased to meet you at last!” This of course is the way we greet someone we do know – virtually – but have never met. Oh sure, we’ve Skyped and I’ve read your Google and Facebook profiles, so I know exactly what you look like, and so it was easy to recognize you.

But now with Glass and the FaceFind app, you can greet a perfect stranger, at an airport, coffee shop, or a high-profile event, by name and with confidence. Glass takes a quick snap of a person’s face, and FaceFind will look it up in real time, using cloud based facial recognition software, so that you always know who you are speaking to.

Privacy pundits have denounced FaceFind as an “intrusion and personal violation” but it’s no different from snapping someone with your phone camera and doing a quick web search. It’s not as if Glass has access to security camera footage, or criminal databases – at least not for the average user. Police and protection agencies may have their own software systems, but FaceFind only accesses public information.

Insincerity is also easily spotted. When that used-car salesman greets you warmly by name, he’s obviously wearing Google Glass.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that Glass says “Face unknown” on your little cue screen – but then you know the person is a non-entity, and you can smoothly move on to the next encounter!