Monday, February 22, 2016

Google's Contact Lenses

One of the most imperative to individuals health to have a healthy and constant blood sugar level. Having too high or too low of a blood sugar can have serious repercussions, including many types of diabetes. Diabetes is a condition that affects the pancreas, diminishing or even stopping the production of insulin in your body. Insulin is a medicine that is commonly taken in order for diabetics to keep their blood sugar at a healthy and constant level. When glucose is not controlled, blood sugar levels can become dangerously high which is life threatening. It is most common for diabetes to occur in someones childhood, after an illness, or as a result from old age.

contactlens.jpgGoogle is one of the first companies to take wearable technology to a new level. The company has pushed themselves and created a smart contact lens. However, this contact lens is not the normal lens, and it is not Google Glasses plastered onto your eye. It is tailoring to an entirely new market by monitoring diabetics' tears for glucose levels. The lenses are being created by Google X. This a part of Google that handles the companies ambitious and questionable projects such as Glass and self-driving cars. These lenses are allowing google to not only break into an entirely new era of technology, but they are allowing them to break into the medical field of technology as well. This is said to just be one of Google's first wearable technologies that are going to change peoples lives.

Health is the most important aspect of the human body. As Google continually amazed people by inventing creations such as the Google Glasses, it was simply just a matter of time until they came out with something like the contact lenses that monitor blood sugar levels. I do not have diabetes, but an enormous percentage our our civilization does, especially with obesity becoming more and more normal. I believe these lenses may be the first step to creating a healthier way of life throughout the world.

Larsen, Luke. "The 10 Best Technology Advances of 2014." Pastemagazine.com. The 10 Best Technology Advances of 2014, 20 Dec. 2014. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

"Menu." Dr Diabetes. Admin, 29 Oct. 2015. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.

5 comments:

  1. This article gives a really good representation of google's advancements not only in the technology world, but in the health field. I think that the health field is a very big change for google compared to their past investments and I am interested to see how google continues to advance in the field. As cutting-edge as this technology is, I am skeptical of its success in the field since this article was published. Though I am not diabetic, I have never heard of this technology or anything of its sort. Since this article was published in 2014, I would have expected this to have gained more attention in the media and public eye if it were really that effective and had a large impact on the diabetic community. If still in creation and production, I am very interested to see how this could advance the health community as a whole and how it can be applied to other health issues.

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  2. After seeing the title of this article and then going on to read it, I was surprised to find out that these contact lenses are for helping diabetics rather than helping someone to see better. Being a person who is dependent on contacts in order to see everyday, my first concern with this product is are there going to be lenses for diabetics who also need lenses to see as well? If not, will this issue be solved in the future? Another question I had about this product is, would the wearer have to change these lenses ever so often or would they not have to worry as much about this? I personally change my contacts everyday and I have friends who change theirs every few weeks, are these diabetic lenses different from regular contacts? This led me to think about another issue regarding how much these lenses would cost, especially if they had to be replaced every few weeks. My last question was about what kind of material they were going to be using to create these lenses. Would it be similar to what contacts used for vision are made out of or…? Other than these concerns, I think this product could eventually become both very appealing and successful in todays market. I liked the idea of the contacts monitoring blood sugar levels, I think this would help diabetics to better deal with their condition.

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  3. Throughout history, humanity has been striving to improve technology to better the world in many aspects of life, in this case, health. This article speaks about the new breaking technology created by Google; contact lenses that have the ability to monitor one’s glucose levels.
    The most interesting ability that I feel these lenses contribute to society is its feedback mechanism. This ability could potentially lead to the saving of countless lives. People who have extremely high or low glucose levels can develop diseases and conditions that could ultimately lead to one’s death. The warning given by the contact lenses can allow people to learn of the problem early, and have it treated and suppressed. I am very interested in how this technological breakthrough will lead to more advances in the future.
    I am skeptical, though, because I have always been under the impression that we have had technology to calculate our blood levels, etc. Yes, maybe the lenses may bring about an easier way to check one’s glucose levels, but this particular technology must be on the expensive side, at least in its production. Many factors have to be accounted for when we think about its value, such as the speed and accuracy of the data, and whether it can/should be improved. Other than some of these concerns, this post was very eye-opening and insightful.

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  4. The title of this blog attracted me because I believed that Google had created a smaller version of google glasses in contact form. However, I was very interested to learn that the contacts were made to monitor diabetic patients, and help them with their daily monitoring of their health. I believe that this is important because Google is advancing into a new area of technology, one where their competitors have not yet entered. Google, Apple, and many other tech giants are constantly competing to have the newest technology to keep their consumers interested. By entering the medical technology industry, Google is doing something that Apple and other competitors have not yet done. This is important because it makes them stand out, and attracts new customers who are interested in what they are doing. Google now has the technology to improve peoples health, but I also agree with previous comments on how the availability and price of these contacts, and if it is possible to market them to the general public. This technology must come at a high price to produce, and many people who suffer from diabetes may not be able to afford it. I believe that if Google could find a cost effective way to mass produce these contacts, many people will be able to benefit and improve their health.

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  5. Diabetes is a very serious illness that effects the overall health of the human body. There are different types of Diabetes. People can either develop diabetes at young age, which can not be prevented, or develop it later in life due to obesity or old age. As obesity in America rises the diagnosis of diabetes becomes more relevant. Therefore, inventing something that can help monitor diabetes is very important. This article mentions how google has invented its first wearable technology. These contact lenses are not google glasses that are to be put on your eye for that reason. The reason for these lenses are to monitor diabetic tears for glucose levels. The lenses are being created through by Google X, which is a part of google that handles the companies questionable and ambitious projects. Google is now is breaking into the medical field and improving the lives of people who suffer from diabetes. For someone like myself who has lost someone from diabetes I am extremely excited about this advancement.

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