14 DAY TRIAL // Google Glass has officially made its first victim. It’s not as bad as you may think, but one person did seek treatment for addiction to Google’s device.
This is a US navy serviceman who used the device for up to 18 hours a day and grew so dependent on it that he got irritable when he wasn’t wearing it and even developed an involuntary movement of his hand to his temple.
Doctors from San Diego diagnosed him of “internet addiction disorder,” and said that the use of Google Glass was to blame, reveals a study published in Addictive Behaviors journal, as reported by the Guardian.
The man, a 31-year-old US navy serviceman, checked into the Navy’s Substance Abuse and Recovery Program for alcoholism treatment, but the doctors discovered he wasn’t only addicted to booze. Instead, they diagnosed him with the excessive use of Google Glass after noticing that he would involuntarily move his right hand up to his temple area and tap it with his forefinger, something that people do to interact with the device.
That’s not all, however, as it seems that the individual was also having dreams where he viewed his life through the small lens of the device. As he went through withdrawal, he man became frustrated and irritable.
He wasn’t using the device solely for his pleasure, but also for work. In fact, his job involved listing inventories of convoy vehicles for the Navy, for which Google Glass was provided to help increase productivity levels.
Over a month to get some results
The patient was treated over 35 days, during which time he reported a reduction in irritability, motor movements to his temple and improvements in short term memory and clarity of thought process. Despite everything, however, the dreams continued, having him see his life through the small lens of Google Glass.
While the American Psychiatric Association doesn’t consider Internet addiction to be a psychiatric disorder, there’s a huge debate about this issue, especially since there’s an increasing number of cases. The problem will likely start to get taken more seriously from here on out, however. After all, other issues, such as alcoholism weren’t seen as problems not too long ago.
It seems that the risk with wearable technology is slightly more increased than in case of computers because the neurological reward that’s regularly associated with addiction is always there. Basically, this could happen with any other device, not just Google Glass, which means smartwatches are just as dangerous.