The contact lenses that could do away with TV screens: System that projects images onto the eyeball to be unveiled next week
The contact lenses that could do
away with TV screens: System that projects images onto the eyeball to be
unveiled next week
·
iOptik allows users to see digital data such
as directions and video calls
·
Tiny 'screens' sit directly on users'
eyeballs and work with a pair of glasses
·
They provide an experience equal to watching
a 240-inch TV at 10ft away
·
A working system is due to be
revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show
·
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:
Contact
lenses that allow the wearer to see high-definition virtual screens are to be
unveiled in Las Vegas next week.
Dubbed
iOptik, the system allows the users to see projected digital information, such
as driving directions and video calls.
The tiny 'screens', which are the
invention of Washington-based group Innovega, sit directly on a users' eyeballs
and work with a pair of lightweight glasses.
Contact
lenses that allow the wearer to see high-definition virtual screens are to be
unveiled in Las Vegas next week
Together, they provide an
experience equivalent to watching a 240-inch television at a distance of 10
feet, according to Innovega's chief executive Steve Willey.
The glasses are fitted with
micro-projectors and nothing else. The contact lenses, however, are more
complicated devices.
They can
be worn on their own and only function with the iOptik software when a user
looks through the company's paired glasses.
The
system can work with smartphones and portable game devices to deliver video -
or switch to a translucent 'augmented reality' view, where computer information
is layered over the world we know
HOW DOES
IOPTIK WORK?
The
glasses are fitted with micro-projectors and nothing else. Additions in the
future could include audio devices, touch control, a camera and an
accelerometer.
The
contact lenses can be worn without the glasses and only function with the
iOptik software when a user looks through the company's paired glasses.
Innovega
customised the standard contact lens manufacturing process with a unique filter
to make the contact lenses.
'All the
usual optics in the eyewear are taken away and there is a sub-millimeter lens
right in the center,' MD Stephen Willey told CNET.
'It's
shaped, so the outside of the lens is shaped to your prescription if you need
one and the very centre of the lens is a bump that allows you to see incredibly
well half an inch from your eye.'
An
optical filter also directs the light. 'Light coming from outside the world is
shunted to your normal prescription. Light from that very near display goes
through the center of the lens, the optical filter,' Mr Willey said
The
system can work with smartphones and portable game devices to deliver video -
or switch to a translucent 'augmented reality' view, where computer information
is layered over the world we know it.
‘Whatever
runs on your smartphone would run on your eyewear,’ Innovega chief Stephen
Willey said in an interview with CNET. ‘At full HD. Whether it's a window or
immersive.’
Crucially,
the device can be worn while moving around in a similar way to Google Glass.
Innovega
customised the standard contact lens manufacturing process with a unique filter
to make the contact lenses.
'All the
usual optics in the eyewear are taken away and there is a sub-millimeter lens
right in the centre,' Mr Willey told CNET.
'The
outside of the lens is shaped to your prescription if you need one and the very
centre of the lens is a bump that allows you to see incredibly well half an
inch from your eye.'
An
optical filter also directs the light. 'Light coming from outside the world is
shunted to your normal prescription. Light from that very near display goes
through the center of the lens, the optical filter,' Mr Willey said
The contacts are due to be
previewed at the Consumer Electronics Show and promise to provide a much more
immersive experience than other head-work wearable devices.
The company unveiled a prototype
of the technology at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, but plans to show a
more advanced, working version next week.
Each lens
is embedded with an optical micro-filters that diverts the light emitted by the
glasses towards the middle of the pupil. At the same time they send light from
the surrounding environment to its rim. In effect, this means the retina
registers both images simultaneously and in focus
Innovega
could also license the technology to other vendors, who may add elements such
as audio, touch control, motion control, and other hardware seen in gadgets
such as Google Glass. Pictured here is an image of how someone might see their
speed with the device as they are jogging
Innovega
could also license the technology to other vendors, who may add elements such
as audio, touch control, motion control, and other hardware seen in gadgets
such as Google Glass.
Last year, South Korean
scientists created soft contact lenses fitted with LEDs, bringing the
possibility of transparent, flexible materials that can be programmed to take
pictures a step closer to reality.
Unlike
the iOptik, which requires glasses to work, these contact lenses can be used as
standalone systems capable of performing tasks such as taking
pictures.
Microsoft and the University of
Washington have also been working on similar projects that seem more like a
prop in movies such as Mission Impossible
4.
In 2012, they created a prototype
of a hard augmented reality contact lens capable of receiving radio signals and
transmitting them to the brain through optical nerves.
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