Tag: augmented reality glasses

Google Glass gets fashion friendlier with Oakley and Ray-Ban

| March 31, 2014

This augmented reality wearable technology is working hard to become more attractive for users.

One of the largest barriers that wearable technology has faced to widespread adoption has been that it hasn’t been all that conscious of fashion, and Google Glass has not been any exception to that rule.

However, that brand of augmented reality glasses is now partnering with top designers to leap ahead.

In this effort, Google Glass is soon going to be available through the makers of Oakley and Ray-Ban frames, to help to make sure that this internet connected, augmented reality wearable technology will become more appealing for people who are as concerned with the way that they will look using the tech as they are with the functionality of these internet connected gadgets.

This has become possible because Google Glass has partnered with Luxottica Group.

That Italian frame making company, which is also behind Ray-Band and Oakley products, will now be working with the Google to ensure that their eyewear will appear less sci-fi and geeky. This announcement has come close to another that was made with regards to wearables that will be sold by that company. They also revealed that Fossil Group is designing a smartwatch that will be based on the Android operating system for wearable devices.

The frames that will be developed by Luxottica will also include the various elements that are central to the augmented reality eyewear, including the camera, tiny display just out of the direct line of sight. The device currently costs about $1,500 though it unclear as to whether or not the Luxottica version will cost the same amount. What has been revealed is that as early as this year, the new and more stylish version of the wearables will be available at the over 5,000 Luxottica stores in the United States.

Until now, Google Glass has been sold only to a specific group of just over 10,000 test subjects that have been labeled “Explorers”. That said, while people do seem fascinated by the technology, they are unimpressed with the way that it looks when worn, nicknaming those same Explorers as “glassholes” for wearing gadgets that appear to be more appropriate in a cyborg movie than actual reality.

Google Glass being tested in Rhode Island ER

| March 12, 2014

These augmented reality glasses are being tested for use with medical conditions.

Starting at the end of last week, the emergency department at Rhode Island Hospital became the first one in the country to start to use Google Glass and its associated wearable technology for streaming live images of the medical conditions of the patients who were being seen there, in order to be able to consult with a specialist who was located somewhere other than in the hospital.

This is the start of a feasibility study that is meant to test the augmented reality glasses for six months.

Should the use of the Google Glass prove to be successful, Dr. Paul Porter, the project coordinator, believes that the use of these mobile devices will only expand in the medical arena. Potential users could include first responders in ambulances, surgeons, and others who could benefit from the recommendations of specialists while they are on the field or when there is no local specialist available.

Porter is highly enthusiastic about the possibilities for Google Glass in the health care environment.

He stated that it would be “like the Holy Grail” but added that “we’re just at the beginning; you have to start somewhere.” At the moment, the hospital will continue to test this wearable technology exclusively with emergency room patients who are suffering from various forms of dermatological struggles, such as skin rashes. These patients must volunteer to be a part of the study as opposed to being automatically entered into it.Google Glass - Augmented Reality Glasses

The reason is that Porter feels that the standard of health care at the moment makes it so that handling these types of problems within an emergency room typically involves a basic visual inspection while asking the patient certain types of questions such as whether or not it is itchy, painful, etc.

The reason that these specific types of cases have been chosen for testing Google Glass in the emergency room is that if any glitches should occur within this wearable technology – such as a loss of the connection for audio or video – then the life and health of the patient will not be placed at risk.