Those who rejected Google Glass as a useful device could be regretting it, as Glass could be helping in the treatment of autism in children. View of a patient’s information displayed on Glass’s screen. (Image via Nature)
Glass is a device that Google launched mid-2012 with the vision of liberating smartphone users from the urge of checking their phones. It didn’t work. For those who do not know, Glass is a type of accessory which looks like a combination of eyeglasses and camera. The hidden screen allows the users to view their notifications without touching their phones. On the part of the device that hangs over the ears, there is a pad that facilitates navigation on the screen. The user can also turn on Glass by looking up or using his or her own voice. While many people sighed up with Google to try the device, Glass failed to impress for a few reasons.
The first concern legislators brought up is the safety of the user. Legislators wondered if people won’t use it while driving. If a driver could have another screen displaying information between him and the windshield and the road, it is obvious that will cause some accidents; especially since smartphones alone are already a source of accidents and concerns in the society. Another concern is the privacy of passers-by. There was a story about one of Google Glass explorers (those who signed up to test Glass) being attacked because some of the people they passed by had thought they were filming them. It can be inferred that many people would feel uncomfortable if someone was walking around with a camera directed to them. With other devices like smartphones or camcorders, it is fairly easy to tell when someone is recording; but not with Glass. Therefore, Google started to train its “explorers” (Glass users) on the etiquette they should adopt while wearing Glass. However, the biggest reason experts think was the cause of Google Glass failing on the market is that the company failed to communicate clearly why the users needed to buy Glass. It was not clear to users what problem Glass was solving in their lives, or what they would gain by buying Glass. Nonetheless, Glass might have found a better use than the one intended by Google.
It turned out that the augmented reality (AR) application of Glass could help autistic children better understand social interactions. Researchers developed a therapy using Glass paired with a software that will inform the wearer of the device of the emotion on the face of the person they are facing. The goal here is to fight the effects of autism (difficulty in communicating) by teaching children facial expressions of emotions so that they will better understand people and respond accordingly. Out of the fourteen children with autism spectrum disorder that participated in the trials, twelve showed promising results: more frequent eye contact. But how reliable are those results? After all, there was no control group to measure the trial group against. In other words, researchers cannot say for certain that wearing the device was the only cause of the changes in the children’s behavior.
Google is not the first to offer its creation to help people with disabilities. From technology giants to startups, many companies have also offered a solution, either an app or a gaming platform, to improve the lives of autistic children. It is always more interesting to see how technology can serve medicine.
Part of the industry of wearable technology, Glass could also become a groundbreaking tool in healthcare along with many other devices. Glass is being considered for use during surgeries. Surgeons and other physicians will have all the data on the patient they are treating every time they visit the patient or during an operation. But, it doesn’t stop at using Glass, medical professionals will have a great array of devices, from patches, watches, clothing and electronic skins, to serve their patients more efficiently. The real challenge will be to make them ethical and easy to wear.
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