• H2020
• Special Reports

Google glass

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological condition affecting up to ten million people worldwide. It manifests itself in motor symptoms including rigidity, tremor and bradykinesia. These affect an individual’s balance, gait, arm and facial movements. People with Parkinson’s can also be prone to transient and unpredictable ‘ON/OFF’ cycles, where medication becomes less effective at treating symptoms, resulting in periods of effectively controlled symptoms (ON) and periods of severe symptoms (OFF). Over the last nine months, researchers in the Digital Interaction group at Newcastle University, UK, have been trialling Google’s new Glass technology to explore its potential in helping these individuals manage their condition and symptoms. This was part of a wider project, funded by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board, which studied future sustainable and scalable approaches to assistive technology provision (http://www.saltproject.co.uk/).

What is Google Glass?

Google Glass is an example of what is frequently referred to as ‘wearable computing’. Resembling as much as possible normal, off-the-shelf spectacles, within its frame Glass is equipped with a miniature computer, a micro-display and contains many sensors. This includes sensors that allow the measurement of head movement, those that can pick up ambient sounds such as speech, a front-facing camera to take photographs, a basic eye-tracker and a touch sensitive panel on the side of the unit. Those wearing the Glass can interact with it through touching the side of the frame and via spoken commands. Additionally, it provides audio and visual information to a wearer through a bone conducting speaker and the translucent display filling a small region of the field of view.

While in the mass-media this new technology has been claimed to be primarily a toy for those already technology-minded, there are a number of reasons to think that Glass would be very useful for people with Parkinson’s. That the main way of interacting with the technology is through voice or simple touch gestures makes it potentially a lot more accessible to use for people experiencing tremors in their limbs compared to a normal mobile or smartphone. Furthermore, the large array of sensors and ways of providing feedback to those wearing it means it can monitor someone’s behaviour and provide prompts and cues related to these back to whoever is wearing it. For example, the research thus far has noted that a useful application for Glass would be using the onboard accelerometers to monitor how the wearer’s head and bodily movements change over time. Significant changes and fluctuations in movement may relate to medication wearing off – thus, the Glass can provide visual feedback through its display to its wearer to remind them to take more medication or to suggest locations nearby to have a rest.

Providing a sense of confidence and reassurance

Thus far, the research has focused on some acceptability trials of the technology and, subsequently, undertaking design activities with people with Parkinson’s in the northeast of England who are helping us come up with ideas for new applications. The initial response to the technology has been hugely positive. Many of the volunteers who have used it in their everyday lives have reported a sense of confidence and independence provided by the technology. Especially important has been the sense of reassurance that comes from leaving home unaccompanied, knowing they can contact a family member through voice-activation if their medication were to wear off suddenly.

At the same time, many of the participants in this research have experienced challenges with using the device reliably – a symptom of Parkinson’s sometimes is that an individual’s voice may become much quieter or slurred, thus making use of the device through speech difficult. There were also great challenges at a practical level – with many participants living in rural parts of northeast England or not having internet connections in their homes, they were reliant on mobile connectivity from the device, which was far from consistent. This often reduced the functionality of the device to a bare minimum. Although acceptable for a short trial, it highlights the importance of ensuring wider infrastructural thinking if digital health interventions are to succeed in the long term. The team are now looking at ways to remedy these issues by removing the reliance on specific word-based voice commands and internet connectivity in the applications we create in the future.

Co-designing future applications

The Digital Interaction group at Newcastle University takes a primarily participatory approach to design and works collaboratively with the public and stakeholders in developing research; this means that citizens are involved as much and as early as possible in helping to define the questions and issues explored in studies and help in coming up with solutions and technologies to resolve identified problems. This is fully embraced in this research, and the team are now working with volunteers to design a range of applications with the aim to help people with Parkinson’s manage or self-monitor their condition. One example under development includes the aforementioned medication monitor. We are also looking at the ways in which the display of Glass can provide immediate feedback on voice loudness levels when in conversation, responding explicitly to the challenges many volunteers have faced in speaking loudly in public places. But we are also looking at the ways in which the technology can help those with Parkinson’s to communicate and share information with friends, family and caregivers in ways that support socialisation but reduce reliance on others. In doing so, the overall ambition is to help people like the volunteers in this research to act as independently as they wish for as long as they want to.

Graham Armitage
Deputy Director
Institute for Ageing
Newcastle University
[email protected]
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/ageing/about/staff/profile/graham.armitage

Dr John Vines
Digital Interaction group
School of Computing Science &
Institute for Ageing
Newcastle University
[email protected]
http://di.ncl.ac.uk/people/johnvines/

Roisin McNaney
Digital Interaction group
School of Computing Science
Newcastle University
[email protected]
http://di.ncl.ac.uk/people/a6169778/