bionic contact lens
{{Short description|Proposed device to display information}}
Image:Contact lens display legiblized.png
A bionic contact lens is a proposed device that could provide a virtual display that could have a variety of uses from assisting the visually impaired to video gaming, as claimed by the manufacturers and developers.{{cite news |title=Bionic Eyes Could Change The Face Of Gaming |url=http://kotaku.com/346081/bionic-eyes-could-change-the-face-of-gaming |date=January 17, 2008 |first=Mike |last=Fahey |accessdate=2008-01-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120122237/http://kotaku.com/346081/bionic-eyes-could-change-the-face-of-gaming | archive-date=2008-01-20 | url-status=dead }} The device will have the form of a conventional contact lens with added bionics technology in the form of a head-up display,{{cite news | title = 'Bionic Lens' Adds Computing Power to Sight | url = http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/05/bionic-contact-lens.html | work = Discovery News | date = 2008-02-05 | accessdate = 2008-02-08 | archive-date = 2012-10-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121012191442/http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/05/bionic-contact-lens.html | url-status = dead }} with functional electronic circuits and infrared lights to create a virtual display{{cite journal | title = A single pixel contact lens display | journal = Next Big Future | date =November 22, 2011 | url = http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/single-pixel-contact-lens-display.html | accessdate = 2011-12-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111203223216/http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/single-pixel-contact-lens-display.html | archive-date = 2011-12-03 | url-status = dead }} allowing the viewer to see a computer-generated display superimposed on the world outside.{{cite news | title=Bionic eyes: Contact lenses with circuits, lights a possible platform for superhuman vision |publisher=University of Washington |date=January 17, 2008 |first=Hannah |last=Hickey |url =http://uwnews.org/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?visitsource=uwkmail&articleID=39100 | accessdate = 2008-01-23 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080120125715/http://uwnews.org/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?visitsource=uwkmail&articleID=39100 |archive-date = 2008-01-20}}
Proposed components
An antenna on the lens could pick up a radio frequency.{{cite journal |display-authors= 4|author= NM Farandos|author2= AK Yetisen|author3= MJ Monteiro|author4= CR Lowe|author5= SH Yun |title=Contact Lens Sensors in Ocular Diagnostics |journal= Advanced Healthcare Materials |date=2014 |doi= 10.1002/adhm.201400504 |pmid=25400274 |volume=4 |issue= 6|pages=792–810|s2cid= 35508652}}
In 2016, work on Interscatter{{Cite web|url=http://interscatter.cs.washington.edu/|title=Interscatter|website=interscatter.cs.washington.edu|access-date=2016-09-28}} from the University of Washington has shown the first Wi-Fi enabled contact lens prototype that can communicate directly with mobile devices such as smartphones at data rates between 2–11 Mbit/s.{{Cite web|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602035/first-wi-fi-enabled-smart-contact-lens-prototype/|title=First Wi-Fi-Enabled Smart Contact Lens Prototype|author=Emerging Technology from the arXiv|access-date=2016-09-28}}
Development
Development of the first contact lens display began in the 1990s.{{cite web | title=Contact lens for the display of information such as text, graphics, or pictures | website=Google Patents | date=1999-07-28 | url=https://patents.google.com/patent/CA2280022A1/en | access-date=2024-03-31}}{{cite web | title=Contact lens for the display of information such as text, graphics, or pictures | website=Canadian Patents Database| url=https://brevets-patents.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2280022/summary.html | access-date=2024-03-31}}Intelligent Image Processing, John Wiley and Sons, 2001, 384 pages, {{ISBN|0-471-40637-6}}
Experimental versions of these devices have been demonstrated, such as one developed by Sandia National Laboratories.{{cite news | title=Researchers Develop Bionic Contact Lens | date=2008-01-18 | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,323929,00.html | work=Fox News | accessdate=2008-01-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080121075039/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,323929,00.html | archive-date=2008-01-21 | url-status=dead }} The lens is expected to have more electronics and capabilities on the areas where the eye does not see. Radio frequency power transmission and solar cells are expected in future developments.{{cite news | title=Bionic Vision | url=http://www.scenta.co.uk/health/news/1713965/bionic-vision.htm | accessdate=2008-01-23 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080323160354/http://www.scenta.co.uk/health/news/1713965/bionic-vision.htm | archive-date=2008-03-23 }} Recent work augmented the contact lens with Wi-Fi connectivity.
In 2011, a functioning prototype with a wireless antenna and a single-pixel display was developed.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1088/0960-1317/21/12/125014| title = A single-pixel wireless contact lens display| journal = Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering| volume = 21| issue = 12| pages = 125014| year = 2011| last1 = Lingley | first1 = A. R. | last2 = Ali | first2 = M. | last3 = Liao | first3 = Y. | last4 = Mirjalili | first4 = R. | last5 = Klonner | first5 = M. | last6 = Sopanen | first6 = M. | last7 = Suihkonen | first7 = S. | last8 = Shen | first8 = T. | last9 = Otis | first9 = B. P. | last10 = Lipsanen | first10 = H. | last11 = Parviz | first11 = B. A. | bibcode = 2011JMiMi..21l5014L| s2cid = 40131159|display-authors=3}}
Previous prototypes proved that it is possible to create a biologically safe electronic lens that does not obstruct a person’s view. Engineers have tested the finished lenses on rabbits for up to 20 minutes and the animals showed no problems.{{cite news | title=Vision of the future seen in bionic contact lens | url =http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22731631 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140120143759/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22731631 | url-status =dead | archive-date =January 20, 2014 |work=NBC News |first=Bryn |last=Nelson |accessdate = 2008-01-23 }}
See also
References
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