Google was once a company that didn’t make a lot of money, but then they bought a small firm in 2003 called “Applied Semantics” and used their technology to develop the golden geese known as AdSense and AdWords. Fast forward to today and Google is so rich that they use their own buses and boats to ferry employees to and from work. Despite this wealth, Google is smart enough to understand that they’re a one trick pony. That’s why they’re investing in projects that are incredibly far removed from their most popular product, the Google search engine.

Self driving cars, weather balloon powered internet, scanning every book in every library on the planet, where does it end? Oh right, it doesn’t. Last night, Google announced that they’ve been working on a contact lens that reads your blood sugar once every 60 seconds and then transits the data wirelessly. This data is obviously useful for diabetics, who not only have to prick their finger multiple times a day, but are also at risk of suddenly collapsing.

The funny thing about this project is that it’s not original. Babak Parvis, the man behind the smart contact lens that Google just announed, used to work at Microsoft. And Microsoft actually announced the exact same blood sugar measuring contact lens three years ago, but back then no one paid attention.

You see, Microsoft isn’t cool anymore, but Google on the other hand, working on all these insane projects doesn’t only give them a potential new source of revenue, but it helps the company maintain their image as being the cool young startup that’s on the cutting edge of technology.

Perception often is everything.