Google glass might curb your vision

Since its initial launch in 2013, Google Glass has been touted as a revolutionary entry into the world of “smart” eyewear.

The promise: a broadly expanded visual experience with on-the-move, hands-free access to photos, videos, messaging, web-surfing and apps.

The catch: a small new study suggests that the structure of the glasses (rather than the software) may curtail natural peripheral vision, creating blind spots that undermine safety while engaging in routine tasks, such as driving or walking.

“I am very pro new technology,” said Dr. Tsontcho Ianchulev, lead author of a research letter concerning Google Glass, and a clinical associate professor in the department of ophthalmology at University of California, San Francisco.

“I’m an aficionado of anything new or novel, and I myself was an early adopter of Google Glass,” he added.

“But I almost got into a car accident when I was driving with it. And the device was even turned off at the time. So, that really alerted me to how much my peripheral vision seemed to be blocked by the frame,” he continued.

“What we’ve done is test the glasses in a very simple low-budget way, using standard ophthalmology to compare it to regular eyewear,” Ianchulev said.

“And we found that the frame of Google Glass cuts out a portion of your vision that prevents a user from seeing things on the right side of their visual field.”

Ianchulev and colleagues reported their findings in the issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

To examine the problem, the investigators outfitted three individuals with 20/20 corrected vision, and gave each an hour to become comfortable with Google Glass (per Google’s own recommendations).

Then, with the software turned off, each underwent standard peripheral vision testing.

The result: when compared with regular glasses, each participant experienced a “clinically meaningful” loss of vision in their upper right quadrant, the study findings showed.

In addition, the research team conducted an analysis of 132 photos (found in a Google search online) of people wearing the device. The review revealed that the way the glasses are typically worn suggests that the risk for developing a blind spot is both real and common.

“Now, this was a very initial effort, based on just three participants and the follow-up analysis,” Ianchulev stressed.

“Our goal is really just to open up a discussion and have the manufacturer address the impact in a substantial way, because we realised there was really very little on the topic.”