How was Google Glass necessary, or even preferred, for this application over a normal computer & monitor setup? I can't seem to make that out from the article.
Some laproscopic tools require the surgeon to hold a weird position, and the monitor is off to the side. This causes discomfort, sometimes pain, because there's not a natural stance.
I would assume because it's right in the actual surgeon's view instead of requiring constantly moving the head to look at the monitor, then look at the patient.
Better title would probably be "First Ever Virtual/Augmented Reality Assisted Surgery"
That's correct. During open (non-minimally invasive) procedures in which you're being virtually proctored, you want a head-mounted camera and display. This is because if you have just a head-mounted camera, every time you look up at a monitor to receive instruction your camera's field-of-view changes.
And that was roughly the original title, pre-editing.
That has contributed to some adverse outcomes.
Misadventures in Health Care - Inside Stories has a chapter on "The Laparoscopic Surgeon's Posture". http://www.amazon.co.uk/Misadventures-Health-Care-Inside-Sto...
The book is a bit old now, 2003, so I hope the layout of equipment is better nowadays.