Augmented Reality Contact Lenses

It seems we can't get enough Robo-Cop inspired tech. The robot exoskeleton that confers superhuman strength is already out there, and now circuit-laden contact lenses are being developed to beam augmented reality straight to your retina.

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed lenses embedded with semi-transparent electronics, which most pundits report as an internet accessible contact lens. The reality, at this stage, is much more modest. So far the team have been able to put an 8 x 8 pixel array on a contact lens, and tested it on rabbits for twenty minutes — think Robo-Rabbit playing a quick game of checkers, rather than Minority Report.

This article by the lead researcher Babak A Parviz discusses the difficulties with developing an augmented reality contact lens, but shows that we already have the technology to overcome most of the hurdles. The only question is getting it small enough, and safe enough, to fit on 1.5 square centimetres of polymer that sits on your eye. The piece also suggests uses for the tech other than web surfing — being in constant contact with fluids, it would be an ideal place for sensors to monitor health metrics like glucose levels.

Being able to bat your eyelids and check your email might still be a pipe-dream, but perhaps we're not so far from having a health bar in the corner of the 'screen' reminding us when to have our next check up.

[via PSFK]