Google Glass And Parkinson’s – Not A Thing It Can Not Handle

Thanks to some of its features, Glass could do a lot of good in the medical industry and trained specialists are trying to find new ways to better integrate the device in this area. During a study conducted by a group of researchers from the Newcastle University, people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease have been asked to give Glass a try for a while and see how it could help them in managing some of the symptoms.

It is well known that people who suffer from Parkinson’s disease are sometimes going through a temporary pause or freeze, when they stop from whatever they were doing and in order to snap out of it, need to experience an external stimuli.

One of the first things researchers have discovered, was that Glass could display visual cues to help the user recover from this “brain freeze” and carry on with what they were doing.

Lynn Tearse who used to be a teacher – now he is retired, was diagnosed with the disease back in 2008 and in a recent press release he shared a few words on how could Glass make a difference for people like him. He said that during the freeze, the brain seems to just wait for a signal to reboot, and Glass could provide that signal.

As the disease makes its way into the brain, people could forget some reflexes such as swallowing and sometimes they drool. Glass could be helpful here as well, as it could remind the user to swallow or speak, so that they would remember to do that action.

Parkinson also comes with a lot of heavy medication and people could have troubles remembering about taking their pills in time. In this point, Glass could remind its user through timed alarms to take his medication.

Ken Booth was diagnosed with Parkinson in 1991 and he says that at the time he was taking two or three different pills at every two hours and that remembering the instructions was a turmoil. Some pills with water, some after eating, and others on an empty stomach, it’s hard even for a sane person to remember.

Tearse says that the disease can isolate a person from the real world, given its symptoms and side effects from certain drugs, that could go from frightening people to embarrassing him. He said that him and Ken are work colleagues and they both feel confident about the good Glass could do to people in this situation.

Given that the first study held on only 5 volunteers worked out so well, it has been extended up to 20 volunteers and we’re now waiting to see the final conclusions.