Despite previous reports, there's no evidence that Glass causes eye problems

May 26, 2014 05:50 GMT  ·  By

In the past few days there has been a lot of talk about how Google Glass could end up affecting users’ eyesight.

The article that started it all appeared in Betabeat and it discussed problems that users had, quoting a Harvard optometrist and Google consultant Eli Peli.

Now, Peli has come forth again, to clarify a few things on the topic, saying that there’s no evidence of health risks attached to the use of Google Glass.

Peli, who has worked on researching and evaluating head mounted displays in general, and Google Glass in particular, has discovered after many years spent researching on the topic that there’s been no evidence of health risks.

“Relative to the thousands of people using Glass, very few have reported that they’ve had an issue with eye discomfort of headaches,” he notes in a post he made on Google+. The doctor explains that any such discomfort usually goes away in a day or two after getting used to the device.

The problems reported are similar to those mentioned by users who try out new pairs of prescription glasses, when people need a few days to adjust.

“Like any piece of technology, from TVs to smart phones, it’s important that people find what’s comfortable for them. That’s why Explorers are encouraged to ease into Glass. Glass is designed for micro-interactions rather than long interactions like reading a book or watching a movie,” Peli writes, saying that this is mentioned by the Glass team in the Help Center.

Google announced Glass a while back, but the device was finally introduced last year. The beta version of the Glass was released to a limited number of people and the device was only available by invitation.

The so-called Explorer program encompassed those people who got in to try out the Glass device via invite.

Nowadays, Google has opened up the doors to its shop and has invited people from the United States to buy one for $1,500. The mainstream release of the device is supposed to take place later this year, but an exact date hasn’t been announced by Google just yet.

The gadget uses a prism projector that stands above the right eye, requiring users to look slightly up in order to check the screen. Despite the closeness to the eye, looking at Glass is more like looking at a 25 inch (64 cm) screen from 8 feet (2.4 meters) away.