Babak Parviz, the man behind Google Glass, leaves for Amazon

The man behind Google Glass has left the Plex and has moved on to Amazon. Babak Parviz, who was part of the A-Team at the Google X skunkworks (responsible for self-driving cars, Google Glass and other moonshot projects), is the latest of Google's elite to exit the company. His destination is Amazon which has recently released its first smartphone and has a stable of Kindle tablets and TV streaming devices as well as a lot of interest in mobile technology.

Parviz confirmed the move in his Google + bio page.

Having worked at companies ranging from tiny start-ups to huge corporations and universities in Europe and the US, I have found each one to be fun in its own unique way.

I founded and led a few efforts at Google (among them, Google Glass and Google Contact Lenses are public so far :) prior to moving to Amazon and work on a few other things now…

Replacing Parviz as the head of Google Glass is Ivy Ross, formerly of Bausch & Lomb. No word on what Parviz will be working on at Amazon but it should be pretty exciting.

Source: TechCrunch

Google takes on diabetes with smart contact lenses

The Google[x] research lab is hard at work at developing smart contact lenses that can help diabetics monitor glucose levels with the use of tears. The lenses will feature sensors that are “so small they look like bits of glitter, and an antenna thinner than a human hair.” The tech company’s lab already developed prototypes and conducted clinical research studies. They are currently meeting with the US Food and Drug Administration to get clearance and are seeking partners to help bring the product to the market.

Project co-founders Brian Otis and Babak Parviz said in a blog post that they hope “this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease.”