In the last ten years, augmented reality and its enabling technologies have made remarkable leaps forward. It was 2012 when Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, showed the first live demo of what would become Google Glass in less than a year. The first medical uses of these futuristic glasses did not take long to appear. In the same year, in fact, Lucien Hengelen from Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands conducted a research on the applications and usability of Google Glass in operating rooms, ambulances, general medicine, and home care. Since then, the use of smart glasses has developed not only in the medical field but also in various industrial scenarios, from quality control to remote support.
Today, smart glasses have returned to the headlines, even for non-professionals, thanks to the Rayban Meta, a product targeting the masses. Moreover, thanks to technological developments largely driven by the gaming industry, there are now various versions of glasses that allow different levels of immersion that were unthinkable just a few years ago. Let’s look at the main 3 types of glasses.
Smart Glasses: Hands-Free Video Communication
Those commonly called “smart glasses” represent the category of glasses where Google Glass belongs. These intelligent glasses are very similar, both aesthetically and in terms of wearability, to normal glasses. What makes them “smart” is internet connectivity, integrated microphone and earphones, and, most importantly, one or more integrated wide-field micro-cameras. All this is aimed at transmitting both audio and video in real-time. The most advanced and complete versions of smart glasses, like Google Glass and the Vuzix Blade 2, also allow displaying the image of the remote counterpart directly onto the lenses, ensuring an experience very close to a real video call, with the advantage of staying hands-free. The main application of smart glasses in the medical field is tele-cooperation, where the visiting doctor is supported in real-time by a remote specialist. Additionally, in ultrasound tele-consultation glasses represent an innovative aid for sharing visual information about a patient’s condition. Mobile applications, such as those related to emergency services, ultimately allow maximizing the portability and effectiveness of smart glasses.
AR Glasses: The Real World Enriched with Data and Virtual Tools
In addition to hands-free video calls, augmented reality glasses, often called “AR Glasses“, offer the immersive experience typical of augmented reality, namely the ability to share and display multimedia information. They aim to enhance the view of the real world with 2D or 3D holograms, graphics, or interactive elements. An example of AR Glasses is the Hololens 2 by Microsoft.
Given their weight and size, compared to smart glasses, AR glasses often represent a compromise regarding wearability and look-and-feel. The applications of AR Glasses in the medical field are multiple and range from supervising surgical interventions to real-time consultation of medical reports or diagnostic tests, up to teaching.
The trend of miniaturization, aimed at better wearability, is however well-defined. Some market players are indeed working to make AR glasses slimmer, more portable and more similar to normal glasses. Meta, for example, is aiming with Orion to create glasses aesthetically similar to smart glasses, but with the features, autonomy, and immersion of AR glasses.
XR Glasses: Managing Complexity in an Immersive Manner
The technologically most advanced type of glasses is “XR glasses“, also called extended reality glasses, as they represent an umbrella term for technologies that combine AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality). They allow unprecedented immersiveness and offer a fluid integration between the physical and virtual worlds, supporting both immersive VR environments and AR overlays to the real world. From an ergonomic point of view, compared to AR or smart glasses, XR glasses typically have larger size and weight. In the medical field, they are therefore more suitable for applications with limited duration, such as real-time consultation of reports or 3D diagnostic information. The other main applications are immersive surgical simulations, particularly suitable for training doctors on high-risk procedures without involving real patients. Additionally, remote collaboration is possible, allowing a team of doctors in different locations to work together on 3D virtual models to plan complex interventions. In this type of glasses are included the Meta Quest 3and the Apple Vision Pro, both selectable as part of Optip.
Collaborative Medicine Passes Through Glasses
Glasses represent the future of healthcare, with applications ranging from diagnostics to training. When integrated with the right software platform, like Optip, they offer doctors the opportunity to work more efficiently and collaboratively, putting clinical skills at the center.
