1.17.2014

Google and your eyes, Round 2

Good news for those of our population who suffer from diabetes. Google X, the secret "skunkworks" development lab at Google unveiled a prototype of a medical device which gives diabetics the ability to know their glucose levels without a prick to test blood.
Recode's article Inside Google X’s Smart Contact Lens is interesting on several levels.
(See related article on Hospital Monitoring)

First, point of interest is the breadth of interest Google seems to have in our lives. 
Second, all of these interests are tied to data about how we live
Third, they seem to be able to move beyond the traditional technology platform form factors, reversing the Moore's Law paradigm from bigger, faster, less cost to smaller, efficient, cost less important.

So this seems to be the second round of Google using our eyes as a portal to our lives. First it was Google Glasses and now the diabetic monitor contact lens. The old saying that our "eyes are the windows to our soul," may have some significance when it comes to devices which monitor the use we put to our eyes. Google glasses could be used to control our environment around us by turning lights on and off around us or controlling heating and cooling equipment by noticing our activity levels and location within a structure. Even working with our cars to help them make it safer for us to use the road by integrating our steering decisions with where we have looked just prior to the decision to change direction with a vehicle. 

Sensing the nature of our bodily functions and performance opens a new gateway to the brave new world of implanted sensors to augment our sensory perceptions, memory and even how we interact with each other socially.

Many of you know I'm often a proponent of advancing technology, just as long as it is a beneficial and safe tool for our lives. Yet, this being said, there are often unintended consequences for these seemingly benign tools. So, while I applaud the efforts of ex-professor Brian Otis from the University of Washington, I'm also wary of how any corporate entity would use and protect such sensitive personal data about me, should I decide to use such a device.

It is up to all of us to continue our education and raise our awareness of how our technological world both benefits us and puts at risk while delivering those desired benefits.

Also see a related article on the transformation of hospital care delivery when remote monitoring is added. 

This article is based on information appearing to be reliable. It is a continuing thread of ideas about the connections of ideas which link seemingly unrelated ideas and technology as strings of connected realities.

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