Google to Glass Users: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Numerous medical applications for Google Glass have been announced in the past year: from quickly interpreting diagnostic result to tapping into the power of Glass in the operating room, where it can be used, for instance, to share live video with remote physicians. Only recently, the UC Irvine School of Medicine announced that it is planning on becoming the first U.S. medical school to weave in Google Glass into its four-year curriculum.

Whether Glass could live up to the hype, however, was uncertain as the device had only been used a limited number of users.

Now that a growing number of users are helping to beta test the technology as part of Google's Glass Explorer program, reports are beginning to emerge that the device can cause headaches when used for long periods. Google has added disclaimers warning that the devices were meant for "microinteractions," not "reading War and Peace."

"When anyone gets a new pair of glasses or starts wearing them for the first time there is always an adjustment period until people get used to them. For some, it's the same with Glass," a Google spokesman told BBC News.

Google's own optometrist confirms that some users may experience discomfort and says that this is due to the positioning of the device's display. Eli Peli, OD, is the Moakley Scholar in Aging Eye Research at Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. He also served as a consultant to  Google during the development of Glass.

In an interview with Betabeat, Peli explained that the up-and-right positioning of the display was determined to avoid blocking users' natural line of sight. Constantly looking upwards for long periods is not something that most people are accustomed to, he says, which is why many new owners of Google Glass are complaining of discomfort. "The only people who look up a lot are some professionals like electricians and painters. Most of us look either straight or down. It's well known that up is less comfortable."

However, Peli elaborated that the so-called headaches are not really headaches, but are actually eye muscle strain. Therefore, he says, they shouldn't be called headaches: "To describe it as a headache is inconsistent with how people experience headaches."

"The recommendation is to not overdo it when you start," Peli said. "Use it in the recommended way right from the beginning."

Cnet's Chris Matyszczyk reports that one of the first Google Glass Explorers, Chris Barrett of PRServe, believes it's more than that. Barrett told Matyszczyk he suffered headaches so bad that he stopped using Glass almost entirely. "Using Glass for even a couple minutes in a row does strain my eye. The prism is so far out of my viewing path that it is a pain to look up and to the right. It's not a normal eye motion.

According to Matyszczyk, Barrett readily admits he may have overused Glass. But he does believe Google should do more to help new users.

In terms of its medical applications, the question of eye strain and headache may prove to be problematic for its adoption in medicine--especially its use in complex surgeries, which can take several hours to complete.

Stephen Levy is a contributor to Qmed and MPMN.