Google Glass shouldn’t be lifeless but: Augmedix, a tumbler For doctors Startup, Raises $sixteen Million

despite customers’ lack of interest, medical and different commercial functions for Glass are nonetheless gaining steam.

January 12, 2015

The glasshole has not yet turn into a regular fixture of the subway automotive (thank god), but Google Glass could develop into a extra in style sight in the physician’s workplace. Augmedix, a startup that uses Google Glass as an digital scientific file solution, just raised $sixteen million. the company, which is already working with five national health techniques, will use the cash for further product building and deployment.

Glass has yet to take off with consumers, and with the aid of some money owed developers and early adopters are losing faith within the platform, but calling Glass the Segway of our time is premature.

From medical records to surgical procedure, well being care is without doubt one of the most obvious functions for Glass. along with passion from docs, investors see the headset’s potential. Pristine, an organization using Glass to deliver consultants into the working room for consultations, raised $5.4 million in September.

beyond the clinical neighborhood, endeavor might be the place Glass thrives. Skylight, “the major trade instrument for Glass,” is utilized in more than a few industries from manufacturing to aerospace, most significantly for increased efficiency in service and repairs. here are some examples of commercial uses for Glass, from Eric Johnsen, who left Google’s Glass at Work crew to work at APX Labs, maker of Skylight, ultimate year:

  • plane mechanic accesses engine standing and manuals
  • Oil container employee follows complicated standard operating tactics to function an opulent piece of equipment
  • Logistics supply person or installer will get important points on the subsequent supply and the ability to supply affirmation and proof of supply/set up back to headquarters
  • Manufacturing line employee brings a bench stage engineer to the road by means of actual-time video the use of the camera within the smart glasses to “see what he sees”
  • insurance adjuster documents an inspection on a broken vehicle
  • well being care employees views a simply-in-time snippet of coaching on a brand new piece of equipment

Glass’s primary challenge in the actual world—that it looks alien and is actually alienating—does not exist to the same extent in certain workplaces, where people already put on uniforms. a health care provider switching out one set of eyewear for any other, frankly sleeker piece of hardware, is not going to offend the nurses or zonked-out affected person. “To a definite extent, smartglasses aren’t any different from a helmet, or the clothes numerous these people are already carrying for safety,” Johnsen instructed quick firm over the summer. “enterprise is extra about comfort and safety; for consumers, it can be extra about model.”

[photograph: Augmedix]

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