'Bionic' contact lens projects text, emails in front of eyes
Most of us remember how Terminator 'read' more than 'saw' images through his bionic eye. Soon, normal folks like us may be able to wear hi-tech contact lenses that rival Schwarzenegger's ocular apparatus. Scientists working at Washington University, Seattle have developed a new lens that projects text in front of the eyes. They also said they are now pretty close to developing another lens that can project emails.
The person wearing the new device would be able to read text that is projected in front of his/her eyes. One could also read emails or see clearer images with the help of a computer. In the near future, one may even be able to analyze real-time data of a perceived image much like the kind we see in science fiction movies.
Wearing the new contact lenses will not harm the eye as lab tests on animals have proven. Although the device is very much feasible its power source remains an issue.
The scientists explained that the microcircuitry of its wireless battery is small enough to accommodate only a single light-emitting diode. Besides, the lenses work only when powered by a wireless battery that is placed very close – barely a few centimetres away.
Nonetheless, the WU team is hopeful and expect that they will have resolved all the issues in their next experiment. Prof. Babak Parviz said they plan “to incorporate some predetermined text in the contact lens”. His team collaborated with scientists from Finland’s Aalto University on the project.
Building the electrical circuits for the lens was a huge challenge for the scientists. They used metal layers no thicker than a few nanometers to make light-emitting diodes that were less than one third of a millimetre wide.
Earlier in the experiment they faced another issue of the focal distance. They found that the eye cannot focus on any image that is generated on its own surface. Any object has to be some centimetres away from the eyes for us to be able to focus and see it clearly. The researchers then reduced the focal distance by modifying the lenses.
The findings were reported in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. The team envisages future devices that can show holographic images, if they could embed more pixels into the lens.
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