A California startup has used an augmented reality contact lens on a human for the first time. Will bulky AR glasses soon be obsolete?
It sounds like the screenplay of a science fiction film or a dystopian vision of a researcher talking about technical gadgets from the future: Projected images and information that are displayed directly in a person’s field of vision without having to wear bulky augmented reality glasses must become. The announcement by a Californian start-up shows that this technology is no longer a dream of the future and has already arrived in reality.
“I experienced the future up close”
Augmented reality contact lenses were recently fitted into a human eye for the first time at a lab run by Mojo Vision, a Saratoga, California startup. The name of the man who tested the lens is Drew Perkins – he is the head of the startup. Perkins could see a compass, information and images through the built-in display in the lens – as if projected into space in front of him.
He describes how he felt wearing the lens in an article on the company blog: “To my great delight, I found that I could interact with the compass to orient myself. I could see images and make acquaintances on a teleprompter Read quotes. I’ve seen the future firsthand.”
The integrated micro-display has a density of 14,000 pixels per inch and is 0.5 millimeters in size. For comparison: The pixel density of a current iPhone display is around 450 pixels per inch – so the display in the contact lens is more than 31 times sharper.
The display is controlled via an eye-tracking system and an accelerometer, a magnetometer and a gyroscope were installed to ensure that the information displayed does not blur. There is also a processor, a modem and a battery. Until recently, the technical hurdle in the development was to implement the power and radio communication systems without cables. However, the company cannot yet say when the augmented reality contact lens will be available.
What:Mojo Vision Blog
