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Google teams with healthcare giant Novartis to bring “Smart Contact Lenses” to
market.
In recent
news, Google and healthcare giant Novartis have announced that they have
teamed up to officially begin work toward bringing Google’s smart contact
lenses from theory to reality. For those of us in the visually impaired
community, this makes for some exciting speculation and dream-building.
What can they do?
Press releases surrounding the deal describe the lenses as
having potential for some interesting features. Chief among these proposed
features is active blood glucose monitoring for diabetic patients. Tiny
embedded sensors will monitor blood sugar of tears and transmit results
wirelessly to a connected device. (Presumably a smart phone.) Active, direct
glucose monitoring means better opportunity to minimize other health issues
related to diabetes.
AND:
Another proposed function is active focal adjustment of the
lens. News authors describe this as beneficial to aging patients who suffer
age-related vision changes.
I anticipate greater
breath in application. Are these new lenses the miracle some of us have been waiting for?
Why limit uses to the aging? There is a large global community
of people with a variety of visual defects. These people could benefit greatly
from adjustable focus. (As much if not more, than presbyopic baby-boomers.)
I present my own situation as an example.
I am
leagally blind.
I have a genetic condition (Ocular
Albinism) which leaves me seeing roughly ten percent (10%) of what “normally
sighted” people see. With my glasses on I can only see the top “E” on the Snellen chart.
SO?
As a result of this condition, I remove my glasses to read.
I must wear glasses (thick glasses) to see, with any level of clarity, beyond 8
inches from my eyes. (I have been known to come away from a newspaper with ink
on my nose from reading so close.)
What does
that mean?
At 43 years of age, I have never seen a bird in a tree. I
have never read a license plate from the front seat of a car. I have never read
a speed-limit sign without bulky magnification. I have never actually seen my
son make a goal on the soccer field. While I love going to the theatre, I
cannot see faces on stage. I cannot drive a car.
Awww... Sorry.
I don’t say these things seeking sympathy. I merely want to
demonstrate how life-changing the lenses proposed by Google and Novartis could
be. While the capabilities currently being discussed for this product don’t cover
extreme distance magnification, I can hope they have it on the drawing board
for the future. Will there be a set of lenses for me one day that allow me to
read a theater pamphlet and see the stage like “normal” people? Will I be able
to see the traffic signal when ceossing the street without using a telescope?
Will I be able to read the menu from the wall at McDonalds?
What do you
think?
Are you excited? Are you scared? … Are you doubtful perhaps?
What applications can you see for these devices? How might
our world “look” as we move into this next phase of the technological revolution?
Comment
below and tell me your thoughts.
