Computer-infused contact lenses fit in with the sci-fi ethos of the Google[x] project, but Microsoft supported the same researcher's work three years earlier. January 17, 2014 4:22 AM PST In 2011, Microsoft supported Babak Parviz's research into chip-enabled contact lenses that could detect diabetes-related high blood sugar levels. (Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET) Is Google the only big tech company that's as visionary and disruptive enough to back an idea like the smart contact lenses to help diabetics monitor blood-sugar levels, right? Wrong. Microsoft, that dowdy old has-been (at least in Silicon Valley conventional wisdom), was involved in the very same project in 2011. Project co-founder Babak Parviz, who today also leads Google Glass, previously worked on the contact-lens idea while at the University of Seattle, cooperating with Microsoft. The project, clearly at an earlier stage of maturity then, is the centerpiece of a Microsoft video spotlighting the idea of a natural user interface that lets people work with computers without even knowing it. The contact lenses include a tiny microprocessor that can judge glucose levels in tears then beam that information wirelessly to a device that can process the data and display results. "People were not convinced that this was doable. A lot of people considered it science fiction," Parviz said in the Microsoft video. But Desney Tan of Microsoft Research had faith. "Desney and Microsoft Research were early on convinced that this was a worthy cause. They were willing to work with us and support us. We're very grateful they did that." Google[x] researchers therefore aren't the only one that saw the potential for the technology. But while Microsoft may get some bragging rights here, you can't overlook the fact that Google is the company that hired Parviz and that is pursuing the contact lenses as well as Glass. And so it was Google, not Microsoft, that announced Thursday it's in discussions with the health-care companies and the US Food and Drug Administration about commercializing the contact lenses. Via Danny Sullivan
Computer-infused contact lenses fit in with the sci-fi ethos of the Google[x] project, but Microsoft supported the same researcher's work three years earlier.
In 2011, Microsoft supported Babak Parviz's research into chip-enabled contact lenses that could detect diabetes-related high blood sugar levels.
(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)
Is Google the only big tech company that's as visionary and disruptive enough to back an idea like the smart contact lenses to help diabetics monitor blood-sugar levels, right?
Wrong. Microsoft, that dowdy old has-been (at least in Silicon Valley conventional wisdom), was involved in the very same project in 2011. Project co-founder Babak Parviz, who today also leads Google Glass, previously worked on the contact-lens idea while at the University of Seattle, cooperating with Microsoft.
The project, clearly at an earlier stage of maturity then, is the centerpiece of a Microsoft video spotlighting the idea of a natural user interface that lets people work with computers without even knowing it. The contact lenses include a tiny microprocessor that can judge glucose levels in tears then beam that information wirelessly to a device that can process the data and display results.
"People were not convinced that this was doable. A lot of people considered it science fiction," Parviz said in the Microsoft video. But Desney Tan of Microsoft Research had faith. "Desney and Microsoft Research were early on convinced that this was a worthy cause. They were willing to work with us and support us. We're very grateful they did that."
Google[x] researchers therefore aren't the only one that saw the potential for the technology. But while Microsoft may get some bragging rights here, you can't overlook the fact that Google is the company that hired Parviz and that is pursuing the contact lenses as well as Glass.
And so it was Google, not Microsoft, that announced Thursday it's in discussions with the health-care companies and the US Food and Drug Administration about commercializing the contact lenses.
Via Danny Sullivan
