How does reading with smart-glasses compare to reading on your mobile phone?

Smart glasses, it seems, are not so smart. These wearable computers, attached to spectacles or attached to the head, present superimposed information using an optical display or augmented reality overlay. They thus provide information alongside what the wearer sees with his or her own eyes.

They are effectively wearable computers that run self-contained mobile apps. Some are hands-free and can communicate with the Internet via spoken voice commands, while others use touch buttons and have headphones. Many support wireless technologies like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

Now, researchers at the University of Haifa have found that when walking, the smart glasses lessen the ability to read texts while walking – and this can also have an impact on the safety of the users,” according to Dr. Tal Krasovsky, a senior lecturer at the university’s physical therapy department. His research focuses on technology in rehabilitation across the lifespan, particularly virtual and augmented reality, and its applications for static and dynamic balance.

Use of smart glasses can decrease mobility

Using them while reading and walking causes a 20% decrease in walking speed and impairs walking stability and comprehension of the text, compared to reading while walking using smart phones, according to the study.

“The technology of wearable computing is constantly developing, and we see clear trends that call for the integration of augmented reality in everyday life, for example, Apple’s Vision Pro glasses,” Krasovsky said.

“But there is great importance in understanding the meaning of adding digital information during a common daily activity such as walking, both from the individual’s point of view and from the point of view of planning the environment,” he said. “Our research shows that when walking, the smart glasses reduce the ability to perform both walking and reading texts, and this can also have an impact on the safety of the users.”

Reading and writing text messages have become a significant part of our daily lives. Studies conducted in the past found that texting while walking impairs the speed and stability of walking and even poses a danger to both the texters and the pedestrians who are near them. Studies show that 72% more orthopedic injuries are caused by using a mobile phone while walking (31%) than injuries caused by using a mobile phone while driving (18%). Since smart glass users don’t have to look away from their surroundings when reading information on the glasses, there is a claim that it can help in reading while walking – for example, text messages.

In the study just published in the International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction under the title “Understanding Walking and Reading with Smart Glasses and Mobile Phones: A Dual-Task Paradigm,” the researchers – Krasovsky, Prof. Yoel Lanir and doctoral student Yasmin Felberbaum-Koren from the information systems department, and Rachel Kizony from the occupational therapy department – tested the effect of performing a task of reading a text while walking while wearing two different types of smart glasses.

They were asked to compare this to performing the same task while using a mobile phone when the subjects walked in a closed corridor and an avenue of shops while reading texts on smart glasses and a mobile phone.

The results showed that reading with the help of smart glasses while walking decreased walking speed by about 20%, so that the average walking speed was about 0.9 meters per second – about 30% less than the minimum speed needed to cross a signposted intersection. In addition, a decrease in walking stability was found, as was a decline in reading speed and understanding of the text compared to walking and reading texts on the mobile phone.

The study also showed that the users of the smart glasses reported a higher mental load compared to the mobile phone users. These results show that reading with smart glasses entails a high mental load, and are the basis for warning about using them as a means of reading while walking.