I don’t know about you, but when I hear the words “Google Glass” I immediately think of the future. Rightfully so, Google’s futuristic glasses are still kind of a niche all around the world. Google revealed this project back at Google I/O in 2012 and since then this product has been discussed many, many times. Glass has come a long way since 2012 though, despite that hefty price tag of $1500. Up until 2 months ago you had to be a part of the “Explorer” program in order to purchase Glass, but not anymore. Google made it possible for everyone to purchase a pair, as long as they can come up with $1500 and their location allows them to do so.
Google Glass keeps on developing. Latest information reports that CrowdOptics will offer its technology made for Glass to Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. Residents of said hospital will use it in order to teach them how to perform surgeries and assist them while doing so. What technology are we talking about here? Well, CrowdOptics has developed a way for a person wearing Google Glass to see what other person (who also wears Google’s Glasses) is seeing just by looking in their direction. Note that CrowdOptics is one of the companies who are a part of Google’s Glass at Work program. This is CrowdOptics’ statement: This hope with this technology is that it will offer a paradigm shift in surgical training, especially in the highly complex area of cardiothoracic training, where a major challenge is creating an environment in which an attending surgeon can provide direct visual feedback to residents conducting operations.
Google Glass has been previously used for medical purposes. British surgeon has live streamed a surgery via Google Glass, first ever. Another example is UC Irvine School of Medicine where students will use/are using (it was announced, but we’re not sure if the program started just yet) Glass to help them with their studies in different way. Google Glass is slowly but surely spreading around the world and is used for all sorts of things. There are lots of examples to choose from, we’ve listed only a few which are relevant to medicine.
Do you think Glass will become a vital part of medicine in the coming years?