With companies busy developing AR and VR headsets which are being considered the future of both work and entertainment, here is one company that is into developing an AR-capable smart contact lens. California-based Mojo Vision already has a head start in the segment considering that they have a working prototype ready and have also conducted the first human trial of the same as well, InterestingEngineering reported. The company CEO Drew Perkins has gone on record to be the first person to have actually put on the smart contact lenses and is perhaps the first person in history outside of science fiction to do so.
The company said it managed to develop the advanced contact lenses by packing what it claims is the world’s densest display on a surface that has a diameter of just 0.5mm. Apart from the display, there also is the gyroscope, magnetometer, and accelerometer all packed within the contact lens. All of it works to make sure the AR stuff displayed holds on to its orientation even if your eyes are moving. Then there also are micro-sized batteries onboard that are powerful enough to sustain operations for an entire day while picking up charge when needed wirelessly.
However, there isn’t any way we can have a first-hand idea of what the smart contact lenses are capable of doing as that would entail personally putting on the contact lenses. That again is an entirely different story considering that that would require obtaining necessary approvals from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since those are missing at the moment and isn’t likely to be available anytime soon given that the contact lens is still under development, CEO Perkins had to undergo several clinical testing besides agreeing to many health risks before getting along with the trial.
That also means we have his personal experience to fall back on to have an idea of what the smart contact lenses are capable of. Here is what Perkins had to say in a blog post: “I found I could interact with a compass to find my bearings, view images, and use an on-screen teleprompter to read a surprising but familiar quote. I experienced firsthand the future with Invisible Computing.”
The company otherwise said they wish to enable users to see bright and rich graphics and text content, along with maybe even video as well, irrespective of whether the user is indoors, outdoors, or even if they have their eyes shut. As Perkins said, “This is a tool that can give people an invisible assistant throughout their day to stay focused without losing access to the information they need to feel confident in any situation,” Perkins wrote in the blog post.
Also, there won’t be the need for a supporting smartphone or gesture controls to make the most of the contact lenses. The company also has plans to make the device available to app developers in the future so that the same can be put to more intuitive uses.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in the world of technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles as well, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. Motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot and maybe I’ll make a film sometime in the future.