Augmented Reality in a Contact Lens
From: IEEE Spectrum - 09/2009
By: Babak A. Parviz

A new generation of contact lenses built with very small circuits and LEDs
promises bionic eyesight

In the Terminator movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character sees the world
with data superimposed on his visual field—virtual captions that enhance the
cyborg’s scan of a scene. In stories by the science fiction author Vernor
Vinge, characters rely on electronic contact lenses, rather than smartphones
or brain implants, for seamless access to information that appears right
before their eyes. 

These visions (if I may) might seem far-fetched, but a contact lens with
simple built-in electronics is already within reach; in fact, my students and
I are already producing such devices in small numbers in my laboratory at the
University of Washington, in Seattle [see sidebar, "A Twinkle in the Eye"].
These lenses don’t give us the vision of an eagle or the benefit of running
subtitles on our surroundings yet. But we have built a lens with one LED,
which we’ve powered wirelessly with RF. What we’ve done so far barely hints
at what will soon be possible with this technology. 

Read the entire article at:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens

Links:
A Twinkle in the Eye
http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/augmented-reality-in-a-contact-lens/eyesb1

Parviz Research Group
http://www.ee.washington.edu/research/parviz/

Babak A. Parviz
http://www.ee.washington.edu/faculty/parviz_babak/

Inside These Lenses, a Digital Dimension
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/business/26novel.html?_r=1&ref=technology