Notable University of Toronto professor Steve Mann
Notable University of Toronto professor Steve Mann was allegedly assaulted at a Paris McDonald's. Mann, who is a pioneer of wearable computing, alleges that was attacked for wearing his famous EyeTap Digital Eye Glass. Wikipedia

Notable University of Toronto professor Steve Mann was allegedly assaulted at a Paris McDonald's.

Mann, who is a pioneer of wearable computing, alleges that was attacked for wearing his famous EyeTap Digital Eye Glass.

Mann took to his blog on Monday, July 16, to describe the alleged attack and even mentioned that because he was wearing the glasses, which record images, he has acquired images of the incident in question.

According to Mann, a person who identified himself as restaurant employee stopped to ask about his device while the professor was waiting in line to order. Mann is apparently used to getting stopped for this reason all the time and was carrying a letter from his doctor which he presented it to the man.

However, Mann says that a few moments later while he was eating, he was attacked by another person, whom he identifies in his blog post as Perpetrator 1.

Steve Mann's blog Eyetap.blogspot.com reads:

He angrily grabbed my eyeglass, and tried to pull it off my head. The eyeglass is permanently attached and does not come off my skull without special tools.

I tried to calm him down and I showed him the letter from my doctor and the documentation I had brought with me.

After briefly reviewing the document, the men angrily crumpled and ripped up the letter. Mann then described out he was pushed outside the McDonalds.

As a result of the events, the professor has apparently tried to reach out to the embassy and authorities, as well as McDonald's by phone and via email.

In addition he has turned to the Internet for help. So far, More than a dozen media outlets, including AFP, TechCrunch and The Verge have picked up his story, and a Reddit user even posted his blog. McDonald's, which Mann said had remained mum before, has now released a statement to the Huffington Post, regarding the incident.

We share the concern regarding Dr. Mann's account of his July 1 visit to a McDonald's in Paris. McDonald's France was made aware of Dr. Mann's complaints on July 16, and immediately launched a thorough investigation. The McDonald's France team has contacted Dr. Mann and is awaiting further information from him.

In addition, several staff members involved have been interviewed individually, and all independently and consistently expressed that their interaction with Dr. Mann was polite and did not involve a physical altercation. Our crew members and restaurant security staff have informed us that they did not damage any of Mr. Mann's personal possessions.

In response to the statement, Mann has said I just want my Glass fixed, and it would also be nice if McDonald's would see fit to support vision research, he wrote on his blog.