
Augmented Reality in a Contact Lens - tsestrich
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/0
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rrival
"We’re starting with a simple product, a contact lens with a single light
source, and we aim to work up to more sophisticated lenses that can
superimpose computer-generated high-resolution color graphics on a user’s real
field of vision."

Reading this in a non-fiction context is so exciting.

~~~
onreact-com
Soon enough people using this or more advanced features will bump into you
while seemingly looking at you.

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drp
This is straight out of Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End>

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jamesk2
How about skipping the contact lens altogether and using Lasik to etch a
conductive surface like circuits onto the cornea itself. It's bio circuitry
via laser lithography.

Always on augmented reality.

~~~
ben_straub
But unfortunately irreversible, and non-upgradeable. When things improve on a
Moore's-law curve, you don't want to make a permanent commitment.

~~~
jamesk2
Hey, if Dr. Tattoff can remove tattos with a laser somebody will make
rewritable lasers like DVD-RW! Maybe not infinite rewrites but it's possible.

Anyone see Blade Runner? There was a chinese guy who is the eyeball making
specialist.

Recently I saw a story that scientists are growing livers for transplant. I'd
like an eyeball upgrade. Maybe one that doesn't fatigue as easily as my
default parts.

~~~
jerf
As much fun as it is to speculate about the ultimate invincibility of science,
I would like to point out that the key to writable and re-writable CDs and
DVDs is the _dye_ , not the laser. That after all the selection pressure the
eye has gone through, it _also_ happened to be made of a re-writable dye of
any sort seems rather improbable.

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DanielBMarkham
Don't forget with dual contacts we also have 3-D capabilities.

3-D, high-resolution, virtual-reality-mapped information, games,
communications.

This is going to be a very cool technology to check back with in five or ten
years.

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tsestrich
The thought of putting a tinted contact in my eye to change my eye color still
makes me nervous... jeeze.

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elcron
I switched to contacts from glasses a few months ago, the first few weeks were
by far the worst. You get used to it (or at least I did).

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DTrejo
Yeah, eventually you get to the point where you can put in both contacts in
about 30 seconds without a mirror. It's cool how different that is from when I
first got them, when it took me as much as 10 minutes and a mirror.

~~~
fuzzmeister
As someone who has worn soft contacts for years, I say it can be about 10
seconds. It takes a lot of getting used to, but eventually it gets to the
point where you barely notice the process.

~~~
elcron
Nice, I still take a few minutes (and a few more on bad mornings.)

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tsestrich
In reality, I have a hard time imagining that anyone would be able to
distinguish anything meaningful from a display on a contact lens. That's like
suggesting that you could read a printed word on a contact lens today. You
wouldn't be able to focus on something that is directly on your eyeball.

I think in addition to the technical challenge of actually getting something
like this working in a contact lens, the issue of physically being able to
make use of such a device needs to be addressed.

To those suggesting a pair of glasses be used instead, I think this is a more
practical suggestion for both reasons (the biological and technical). If I try
really hard I'm barely able to focus on something as close as my glasses.

~~~
mcantor
FTA: "By now you’re probably wondering how a person wearing one of our contact
lenses would be able to focus on an image generated on the surface of the eye.
After all, a normal and healthy eye cannot focus on objects that are fewer
than 10 centimeters from the corneal surface. The LEDs by themselves merely
produce a fuzzy splotch of color in the wearer’s field of vision. Somehow the
image must be pushed away from the cornea. One way to do that is to employ an
array of even smaller lenses placed on the surface of the contact lens. Arrays
of such microlenses..."

~~~
tjmc
I get the sense they underestimate how hard it will be to get the optics right
for that in a contact lens. It might be worthwhile to forget all the
electronics to begin with and just focus (no pun intended) on making a static
figure viewable via microlenses and then build from there.

Another issue is that contact lenses need to breath. They admit in the article
that gas permeability is affected as features are added to the lens, so I'd
think glasses would be a safer option.

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albemuth
I've recently started running with a heart rate monitor, angry that it doesn't
display bpm and a redline alert allá FPS

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wlievens
I so terribly want this. Even in ordinary glasses it would be awesome. Where
can I get one? :-)

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rms
Welcome to the future, my friends.

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tlrobinson
Most expensive contact lens ever.

