What are Bionic Contact Lenses? Can you actually wear these?

Did you heard of Virtual lens. An optical device which made add computing power to your sight.

A new generation of contact lenses that project images in front of the eyes is a step closer after successful animal trials, say scientists.

The technology could allow wearers to read floating texts and emails or augment their sight with computer-generated images, Terminator-style.

Early tests show the device is safe and feasible, says the University of Washington in Seattle.

But there are still wrinkles to iron out, like finding a good power source.

Currently, their crude prototype device can only work if it is within centimetres of the wireless battery.

And its micro circuitry is only enough for one light-emitting diode, reports the Journal of Micro mechanics and Micro engineering.

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“Start Quote

Our next goal is to incorporate some predetermined text in the contact lens”

Lead researcher Professor Babak Parviz

But now that initial safety tests in rabbits have gone well, with no obvious adverse effects, the researchers have renewed faith about the device's possibilities.

They envisage hundreds more pixels could be embedded in the flexible lens to produce complex holographic images.

For example, drivers could wear them to see journey directions or their vehicle's speed projected onto the windscreen.

Similarly, the lenses could take the virtual world of video gaming to a new level.

They could also provide up-to-date medical information like blood sugar levels by linking to bio sensors in the wearer's body.

The lens could even be paired with sensors that monitor a person's biological conditions -- cholesterol level or the presence of viruses and bacteria, and transmit the data wirelessly to a computer.

"If we're successful initially, and it takes off, this can get really sophisticated in the next few years," said Babak Parviz, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle.

For example, said Parviz, miniature cameras with adaptive lenses could be incorporated, able to zoom in on something far away or to look at something very close -- providing, essentially, bionic vision.

Parviz and his team developed the lens using micro-fabrication and self-assembly techniques similar to those used to make semiconductor chips.

They started with the material polyethylene terephthalate -- or PET -- the same plastic used to make containers for foods and beverages.


courtesy - Discovery science