Google X has made a recent announcement in which they state a new way of viewing the world is coming soon. According to the ExtremeTech blog post Google has invented a new smart contact lens with an integrated camera. The camera itself is stated to be very tiny and would reside near the edge of the lens as to not impede vision. Due to the camera’s design, which compliments the contact lens, it would naturally follow the user’s gaze allowing for a wide variety of applications. As you can imagine some of these applications would include ; the foundation of a bionic system for the visually impaired, an early warning system, facial recognition, and even “superhuman” abilities such as infrared and telescopic vision.
The camera of the new smart contact lens would be a miniature CMOS device which would dwell just below the pupil, a control circuit, and a yet unknown method of wireless power retrieval. The imaging sensor itself would be transparent in order to absorb light and I would assume could be color matched to the user’s iris in order to remain subtle. Below you will be able to see a basic outline of how the smart lens is designed:
This latest invention from Google X comes in the form of a patent filed back in 2012 and was recently published by the US Patent Office. Earlier in January of 2014, Google also made an announcement that it had begun design plans for a similar smart lens for diabetics which would measure glucose levels from the tears produced by the end user. I’m confident that a wide variety of citizens are curious as to when this product will be available for purchase, however at this point in the development cycle a time line for real-world trials is yet to be established. Do not let this news discourage you, back in November of 2011 a contact lens with LED display had been trialed under laboratory conditions.
On a personal note I only have two questions:
1. When can I trail the product?
2. How far is Transhuman science off from developing a complete retinal replacement?
July 14, 2015 at 4:54 am
to answer your questions since I work in the sector…
1. When can I trail the product? not for a long time. really think 10 to 15 years at the consumer level.
2. How far is Transhuman science off from developing a complete retinal replacement? to be good enough to loose your biological eyes I would venture more then 15 years… but there are so many issues with this that its hard to say and in my line of work prediction in the tech sector starts to break down at 5 so its really hard to judge this from my standpoint.
July 14, 2015 at 9:43 am
No for a long time ? 10 to 15 years ?!?!?! 🙁
What is a long time for you x)
July 14, 2015 at 2:02 pm
well for me a long time is 5 years. so when I plan long term corporate strategy in the tech sector I’m looking at 5 years out in terms of what we see at the consumer level in the tech sector. For example massive VR across the market over the next 3 years and the emergence of AR as the dominate trend in wearable’s and XR related 2 to 3 years out going out to 2020 or so before we see the next emergent tech discussed. I think this is the last post on topic I did: http://tiredallover.com/5-year-strategic-vision-in-the-tech-sector-for-software-engineering-firms/