Google's smart contact lens tracks glucose levels for diabetics
Google this week announced it has been working on a wearable device of a different kind than usual --?a smart contact lens that could measure glucose levels from the moisture on a user's eyeball.
The search giant revealed the previously unknown project in a post to its official blog, which has been under development at the skunkworks-like "Google X" lab for experimental projects. The goal, project co-founder Brian Otis and Babak Parviz explained, is to make it easier for people with diabetes to track their glucose levels.
Scientists have found ways to measure glucose through tears, but obviously collecting such bodily fluids can be difficult. That's where the concept for a wearable smart contact lens aims to be a potential solution.
Google's device would include a "tiny wireless chip and a miniaturized glucose sensor" embedded between two thin contact lens layers which could be worn on the user's eye. The company's prototypes can reportedly generate one reading per second.
The company is even looking into integrating small LED lights on the lens that could serve as an early warning indicator for the wearer. If glucose levels were to go above or below certain thresholds, those embedded lights could alert the user to prevent a serious health risk.
"It's still early days for this technology, but we've completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype," Otis and Parviz explained. "We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease."
Google's project is said to be so far along that the company has even had discussion with the FDA. However, it's not expected to be available to average consumers anytime soon, with the company explaining that "there's a lot more work to do."
The smart contact lens concept from Google is one of the more advanced wearable device concepts seen yet as the trend continues to grow. Wearable devices were the highlight of this year's Consumer Electronics Show, with companies introducing watches, headsets and even rings embedded with electronic devices.
Google, of course, has made waves with its own wearable "Glass," which is currently only available to developers. That product is a head-mounted display that can allow users to view information hands-free.
Multiple rumors have suggested Apple is considering entering the wearable device market, with the most common references to a wrist-worn product that could track health data and provide users with easily glanceable information. Further driving those rumors is the fact that Apple itself has filed for ownership of the "iWatch" moniker in Japan, Russia, Mexico, and Taiwan.
The search giant revealed the previously unknown project in a post to its official blog, which has been under development at the skunkworks-like "Google X" lab for experimental projects. The goal, project co-founder Brian Otis and Babak Parviz explained, is to make it easier for people with diabetes to track their glucose levels.
Scientists have found ways to measure glucose through tears, but obviously collecting such bodily fluids can be difficult. That's where the concept for a wearable smart contact lens aims to be a potential solution.
Google's smart lens prototype includes a wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor to get readings from the user's tears.
Google's device would include a "tiny wireless chip and a miniaturized glucose sensor" embedded between two thin contact lens layers which could be worn on the user's eye. The company's prototypes can reportedly generate one reading per second.
The company is even looking into integrating small LED lights on the lens that could serve as an early warning indicator for the wearer. If glucose levels were to go above or below certain thresholds, those embedded lights could alert the user to prevent a serious health risk.
"It's still early days for this technology, but we've completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype," Otis and Parviz explained. "We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease."
Google's project is said to be so far along that the company has even had discussion with the FDA. However, it's not expected to be available to average consumers anytime soon, with the company explaining that "there's a lot more work to do."
The smart contact lens concept from Google is one of the more advanced wearable device concepts seen yet as the trend continues to grow. Wearable devices were the highlight of this year's Consumer Electronics Show, with companies introducing watches, headsets and even rings embedded with electronic devices.
Google, of course, has made waves with its own wearable "Glass," which is currently only available to developers. That product is a head-mounted display that can allow users to view information hands-free.
Multiple rumors have suggested Apple is considering entering the wearable device market, with the most common references to a wrist-worn product that could track health data and provide users with easily glanceable information. Further driving those rumors is the fact that Apple itself has filed for ownership of the "iWatch" moniker in Japan, Russia, Mexico, and Taiwan.
Comments
Distractions.
Let me put that in perspective: John Scully introduced the "Knowledge Navigator" video in 1987. This is Google's Knowledge Navigator moment: A cool idea, but the product may never come.
So whatever happend to Google's self-driving car?
While I'm not always Google's biggest fan, I do applaud their willingness to do R&D for things a little outside their normal business. Something like this could be incredibly beneficial to many people in the future.
Exactly. Sometimes, people just need to step down off the Google hatebox and applaud their truly GOOD efforts. As a person with a number of family members with diabetes, this is very interesting and promising to me.
Isaacson will wet his pants with this!
Smoke and mirrors
Google and Amazon and others need to stop talking about great ideas and actually deliver on the idea and make real money from the ideas. The idea is only good as people's willingness to buy and the money you can make from it.
Google and Amazon and others need to stop talking about great ideas and actually deliver on the idea and make real money from the ideas. The idea is only good as people's willingness to buy and the money you can make from it.
As someone with a scientific background, I 100% disagree with this. R&D can benefit humanity without people making money off of it.
You must be referring to yesterday's story.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Jobs-biographer-calls-Google-more-innovative-and-says-Tim-Cook-needs-a-team_id51500
I’d like it better if they shut down their normal business and ONLY did this. If they stopped being evil incarnate, I’d be really happy about their robotics purchases, self-driving cars, and medical services.
As someone with a scientific background, I 100% disagree with this. R&D can benefit humanity without people making money off of it.
Shareholders don't disagree....
As someone with a scientific background, I 100% disagree with this. R&D can benefit humanity without people making money off of it.
Yes, some things need to be beyond company profits and instead be for the common good. There is a lot of societal value in 'common good'. If a profit making company develops an idea that they think fits that category and fort ahead 'because it is awesome', all power to them. This idea is absolutely potentially awesome. Whether Google has an ulterior motive or not, who knows, but I suspect this kind of effort, if developed entirely for the common good and without an eye on profit will serve Google well financially down the road in terms of monetization of auxiliary related products and services. Add to that the positive PR, keeping great employs happy and I'd think its a win win. Imagine if Apple produced something like this and how it would feed into the iWatch idea (I am sure the iWatch stands for iWatch over myself rather than iKnow what time it is).
Hope they don't turn this useful idea into something evil, like "EyeAd".
Given the US obesity rate, this could outsell their smartphone business...?
[Disclaimer: US citizen, on the obesity bubble]
So the Futurama jokes were true: "EyePhone"
So the Futurama jokes were true: "EyePhone"
FTW
I don't get all the noise today about google .... so what? They track anything and everything .... DEAD or Alive!!