Unlike other forms of contacts and glasses that created an augmented reality or hook you up to the internet, Sony's
new patent is on a simple set of contacts that can record video.
The recording is turned on and off with the user's blink and sensors can detect if it was an intentional or unintentional one. The image capture technology and data storage would be held within the lens.
Simple, piezoelectric sensors would allow the movements of the eye to charge the battery of the device.
The task, now, is to fit all of this technology, comfortably, into the lens.
Comment: The prototype for the digital contact lens was created back in 2008:
New Contact Lenses Go Bionic
The project was led by Harvey Ho, a former graduate student of Parviz's 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.
It was difficult for the researchers to graft the tiny electrical circuits, built from layers of metal only a few nanometers thick (for comparison, the width of a typical human hair is about 80,000 nanometers), onto the contact lenses, which are made of organic materials that are safe for the body.
The engineers tested the finished lenses on rabbits for up to 20 minutes and the animals showed no problems.
Eventually, the technique could yield a plethora of gadgets. Perhaps drivers and pilots could see their direction and speed projected across their view, or people could surf the Web without looking at an external device's screen. Video gamers could immerse themselves in game landscapes directly in front of their eyes. Maybe the technique could even create sight aids for visually-impaired people.
"People may find all sorts of applications for it that we have not thought about," Parviz said. "Our goal is to demonstrate the basic technology and make sure it works and that it's safe."
Comment: The prototype for the digital contact lens was created back in 2008: New Contact Lenses Go Bionic