Scientists at the University of Washington have created contact lenses with embedded electronic circuitry and lights. The lenses have been successfully and safely worn by rabbits and do not obstruct vision. This development brings us a step closer to lenses that could enable us, for example, to zoom in on distant objects or lenses that can superimpose information on the external environment (augmented reality).

The Experiment & Status

Although the prototype does not provide any functionality as of yet, the lenses are proof of concept that such devices can be created. Readers will know that I’m quite in love with head-mounted display systems and augmented reality — now you also know what I want for my birthday in 2027. Although only if they’ve managed to have the rabbits wear it for more than 20 minutes without harm, which is the time limit that has been tested so far.

Diode Grid Self-Assembles, Solar Powered

Looking at the pictures, it appears as if we can count an 8×8 grid — makes me wonder what resolution we will have reached by 2020-2030. As it stands, the circuitry is only a few nanometers thick (about one thousandth the width of a human hair). The construction technique for organizing the diodes is from the beyond:

[They] constructed light-emitting diodes one third of a millimeter across. They then sprinkled the grayish powder of electrical components onto a sheet of flexible plastic. The shape of each tiny component dictates which piece it can attach to, a microfabrication technique known as self-assembly. Capillary forces – the same type of forces that make water move up a plant’s roots, and that cause the edge of a glass of water to curve upward – pull the pieces into position. [press release]

Read: unbelievably hot technology. They state in the press release that lenses with a few pixels could be available “fairly quickly”, the goal being to power them by a combination of radio-frequency power and solar panels placed on the lens outside- and around the iris.

The project was led by Harvey Ho, a former graduate student of [Babak Parviz (electrical engineer at Uni. of Washington)] now working at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, Calif., who presented the results this week at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ international conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems in Tucson, AZ. [via LiveScience]

Future Potential and Related Tech

We’re using our phones to track our position, view maps and browse the web. Google Earth and similar software is populating our external environment with an artificial layer of (meta)data to increase our productivity and capabilities. Lenses (or glasses) can rid us of the miniature phone screens and project this artificial layer of data directly into our eyes.

The developers themselves mention use cases such as heads-up display for pilots or drivers to show direction and speed. It’s not hard to imagine more advanced versions and methods of control; sensors on your arms that track hand gestures and allow interaction with the objects displayed via the lens, for example.

As excited as I am, all of this would feel closer to home if we had popular augmented reality glasses that did this — which we don’t. Even the solid HMDs that debuted at CES 2008 are somewhat expensive and low resolution (I haven’t had the chance to try them first hand (hint to manufacturers: send them to me and I’ll review), examples include MyVu and Vuzix). On that note, a message to the Fashion police: Get over yourselves and wear the damn things. The sooner you do that the sooner they’ll get slimmer, hotter and cheaper.



Links & References

• Images from Contact lenses with circuits, lights a possible platform for superhuman vision (Univ. of Washington’s Press Release)
• Discovered on Twine
• Other bloggers that are anxiously waiting for commercial versions: Only Dead Fish, Walyou, Futurismic