Alabama's AL.com website reports that with the use of Google Glass combined with the virtual technology developed by the University of Alabama in Birmingham, "orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brent Ponce performed a shoulder replacement," while in Atlanta "Dr. Phani Dantuluri watched, talked and virtually placed his hands into the surgical field."
In conjunction with the Google Glass, the surgeons used VIPAAR, or Virtual Interactive Presence in Augmented Reality, a two-way, real-time interactive video conferencing technology developed by UAB.
According to an account by UAB media relations specialist Bob Shepard the VIPAAR technology allowed Dantuluri to see exactly what Ponce saw and virtually introduce his hands or instruments into the surgery -- "a merged-reality environment."