Abstract:

The paper describes the development of an original Java application using a Google Glass device, a VGA-video converter and a DVR drive. The application was designed for educational purposes in the medical field, allowing real-time management of the information needed to facilitate the surgeon's activity during operations or consultations. Students in medicine can thus pursue a real-time surgery or consultation and learn the practical procedures used by the surgeon. Surgeons can use intelligent glasses to record operations (with patients' agreement) from their visual point of view, and trainees can use them for didactic purposes in surgical simulations before performing their first surgery.

Managing information is done by interfacing an ultrasound equipment, a Google Glass device and a local network, using a DVR as a video stream server. Intelligent glasses are based on voice recognition, so all operations of loading, displaying and scrolling information are done by voice command. The app integrates the voice recognition algorithm in the operating system, available in several languages. The app is connected to a touchpad, having integrated some gestures set by Google developers to access the features and information of the device.

The alternative is to use MyGlass, available on iOS or Android, and establish the connection to Google Glass via Bluetooth. The application described in this paper features the Screencast option, which allows the Android or iOS user to view what happens in the smart glasses menu or during a glasseshot that turns into live video stream on the screen.

For educational purposes, the surgeon's activity can be recorded and stored in the archives of a hospital to be used by the faculty of medicine. With strong voice recognition, intelligent glasses are very practical and easy to use. Eyeglass memory is large enough to store a large number of medical applications and documents or footage. Physicians can communicate with each other using Skype video calls and messages, the device being connected to a bluetooth smart phone.

The developed application is called Healthcare and is created in Android Studio, having a .java source code file that launches a voice command or touchpad touch. The application menu also contains other important activities: Ultrasound, X Rays and Medical Almanah.

In order for the application to function properly, the smart glasses must first be tested from all points of view in order to avoid further errors that would be harmful to current medical practice. The user interface of the app was accomplished by creating classes for each activity that were then run and loaded onto the device via a USB cable using the versatile Android Debug Bridge tool that allows communication with the device.

In this situation, the Google Glass device technology have had a very good performance after installing the app, both on the voice recognition side and on the hardware side. Voice recognition is a system whose improvement is a permanent work in progress. Three new options have been introduced to the application menu, to come in the hands of a doctor or a medicine student who learns to use the app.

The most important original contributions of this paper are:
- implementing the application on Google Glass;
- making the user interface as detailed, clear and precise as possible, for easy understanding at the first use of the device and application;
- displaying images on the device screen and creating voice triggering.

Keywords:

Smart glasses, technology-based learning, medical applications, surgery monitoring, Google Glass, e-learning video, user-generated content, virtual class.