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As some doctors tinker with their exclusively procured Google Glass devices, the medical community is being told to prepare for a future where life-saving information is available at a glance.
The device looks like a pair of eyeglasses without lenses and has a tiny computer and camera built into the frame. When users look up and to the right, they see a holographic screen that appears to be floating in front of them. Google Glass is operated through voice commands, head tilts and a touchpad on the side. It can take pictures, make video calls and enables hands-free web searching.
Some medical applications being explored include remote mentoring, viewing lab reports without looking away from patients and live streaming surgeries to medical students. Despite the buzz, however, there are constraints to medicine's adoption of Google Glass, including privacy regulations and a reluctance among some hospital administrations to embrace new technologies.
In May, Google shipped 8000 devices to early adopters in the United...