Google Inc (GOOG) Glass Has Vision, And It Can Check It

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been considered a visionary company for its Google Glass device, which has been making the research and development rounds in recent weeks with its Google Glass Explorer program, allowing 8,000 people the chance to test and give feedback on the wearable computer and use it in a variety of situations and environments. While some may call the device visionary, there has been at least one Explorer who wants to find out if that vision can be checked by Glass. See a sneak peek of Google Glass.

The first step toward finding that out just happened this week, as a couple of members of the Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University wore Google Glass during an eye examination. The Google Glass Explorer was Elyse Kleifgen, a second-year intern in the college who entered the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Glass Explorer content through Twitter and picked up her Glass in California last week and took it back to campus to begin using it and researching how it can be used in optometry.

Kleifgen was inspired to enter the contest to be an Explorer when the Vision Research Institute in the Michigan College of Optometry vowed to assist financially in the $1,500 price tag for Glass if a student was named an Explorer by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), so that the institute can research the various uses of the device.

“It appears to us that Google Glass has far reaching potential in optometry from the perspective of hands-off video and photographic documentation, ocular image and data comparisons, plus remote live interactions with our professors and instructors,” said Craig Norman, director of the Vision Research Institute.

“We’re extremely excited that one of our students was selected as a Glass Explorer, pleased that we have already tested it, and we at the Vision Research Institute are looking forward to discovering more ways the device can be used in the eye examination process.”

What do you think about this use of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Glass, in medical science? Can you see some innovations to come of of this implementation? Is Glass just a toy, or can it be a tool?

In what other area could you see Glass perhaps making an impact? Will this product boost Google’s stock, to the appreciation of investors like fund manager Julian Robertson (see his full equity portfolio)? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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