Contact lenses that help enhance normal vision with megapixel 3D panoramic images are being designed by scientists using military funding.

For those who do not want to rely on contact lenses, future versions could involve lenses directly implanted within the eye, researchers added.

Over the decades, the video displays that everyone from fighter pilots to the general public use have grown increasingly complex. One possibility for advanced displays is a virtual reality (VR) system that replaces our view of the real world with computer-generated vistas. Another idea consists of augmented reality (AR) displays that overlay computer-generated images over real-world environments. However, these often require bulky apparatus such as oversized helmets.

"Unless the display industry can deliver transparent, high-performance and compact eyewear, developers of augmented reality and other compelling media applications will simply fail to create the excitement that consumers crave and the functionality that professional users absolutely need," said Steve Willey, chief executive officer of Bellevue, Wash.-based company Innovega.

Now Innovega researchers funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the National Science Foundation are developing novel contact lenses that can help view tiny full-color megapixel displays.

 "Over the past months, we have demonstrated contact lens-enabled eyewear for mobile devices, including smartphones, portable game devices and media players that deliver panoramic, high-resolution experiences for entertainment and planned augmented reality applications," Willey said.

The new system consists of advanced contact lenses working in conjunction with lightweight eyewear. Normally, the human eye is limited in its ability to focus on objects placed very near it. The contact lenses contain optics that focus images displayed on the eyewear onto the light-sensing retina in the back of the eye, allowing the wearer to see them properly.

Conventional mobile device screens are often too small to read comfortably "and certainly too small to enjoy," Willey said. In contrast, Innovega's contact lenses could effectively generate displays with a screen size "equivalent to a 240-inch television, viewed at a distance of 10 feet."

Moreover, by projecting slightly different pictures to each eye, the display can generate the illusion of 3D. "You get full 3D, full HD, fully panoramic images," Willey said.

Although some might balk at using contact lenses, "100 million people already do, including 20 percent of the key target group of 18- to 34-year-olds, those involved in gaming and using smartphones," Willey told InnovationNewsDaily. "So we already have a built-in market. We envision that people who pick up their lenses every six months or so might switch to these lenses, picking them up from the same vendor they already do."

Potential consumer applications include immersive video, 3D gaming, mobile device interfaces and augmented reality applications. When it comes to potential military applications, "this could be the ultimate computer interface for the troops, something that's fully transparent and fully hands-free," Willey said.

"Think of individuals who pilot drones, the ones that fly or the ones for bomb disposal," Willey added. "Or think of medics, who can get information very quickly from the soldier and from headquarters and relay it back. Or think of soldiers who need a display who have a gun in their hands and can't have something obstructing their vision for safety and mobility issues, but need access to incredibly rich data such as maps that require full color and detail."

12 Comments

1. 1. Elegia 04:34 AM 2/3/12

   Part of me is saying, "Wow! That is soooo cool!"
   
   And the other part of me is saying, "That is soooo creepy! Implanted in my eye? Eeeyiew!"
   
   But I can see that the world I leave will be a very different one than the world I was born to.
   
   Wow.

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2. 2. BillR 08:25 AM 2/3/12

   Sounds like an exploit waiting to happen. Since they would be wireless, someone could maliciously take it over and plant false information or even make it look like you were walking down a street instead of walking off a rooftop. Murder by Virtual Reality. What is next?
   
   Why must we always look for the next cool toy instead of just getting on with reality?

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3. 3. unre9istered in reply to BillR 08:32 AM 2/3/12

   Have you ever seen Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. It's an Anime where that's pretty much what's happening (though it's a bit more than just a contact lens).
   
   I do think that with these lenses it would be difficult to pull that off; I suspect there would be some transparency to the virtual images that would make it difficult to convince someone of their reality.

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4. 4. David N'Gog 09:41 AM 2/3/12

   I have much the same thoughts as those above "Cool, Creepy, and What about those who can hijack them".
   
   I personally would feel much more comfortable with glasses (visor on a helmet for military) that provided such information. Something that I could take off quickly and easily- and something I could choose to put on only as needed.
   
   Contacts typically stay in all day- I can't imagine someone wanting to put them in and out continuously throughout the day.
   
   First thought however was- Geordie LaForge. Would be interesting to be able to detect infra-red, ultra-violet, radio wave... I'm sure there would be a use for being able to see that sort of thing- even when not on a star-ship.

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5. 5. QuantumQualifax 11:10 AM 2/3/12

   This beats the wagon-load of electronics, batteries and bulky goggles achieving similar results during the '90s -
   that is, achieving similar results in my dreams.
   
   It'll be a wonderful thing to be able to see your property lines, the market value of the neighbors' houses and cars, whether that pedestrian is a sex offender, the crime rate of areas you visit, the destinations of overflying airliners...

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6. 6. QuantumQualifax 11:14 AM 2/3/12

   Funny how poeple get upset over the idea that they can be identified through RFID tags or face-recognition devices, yet are oblivious about the same thing being done simply by operating their own legally licensed motor vehicle.

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7. 7. QuantumQualifax 11:15 AM 2/3/12

   Poeple as well as people.

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8. 8. yarberry 02:27 PM 2/3/12

   I've order some rose colored ones. Need to improve the worldview.

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9. 9. cookchh in reply to Elegia 05:15 PM 2/3/12

   Implanted contact lenses are already common. I am very near sighted and have one implanted behind the iris of my eye.

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10. 10. Daniel35 01:26 PM 2/10/12

    I'd sure like to see a diagram of how you can get a focused image on the retina from an image, or whatever kind of info, on a contact lens, or close to the eye, unless maybe you have a strong variable lens inside the eye.
    
    Why does everything have to be first for the soldiers? Is fighting what we're all about now?

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11. 11. quixote218 09:24 PM 2/19/12

    I think most of you missed the point that the contact lens is just a contact lens. The images come from glasses you wear, and the contact lens is built so that you can focus on it even though it's just a couple centimeters from your eye. If the image were in the contact lens itself, it would be out of focus because your cornea does most of the focusing.

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12. 12. troyjoel 04:41 AM 4/28/12

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