Researchers Create Contact Lens With LCD Display
Call it your future eye phone.
Contact lenses that display information have long been a trope in science fiction. However, science is one step closer toward making that a reality. Researchers from Ghent University in Belgium have developed a way to convert contact lenses into LCD screens that can project information. The technology could rapidly change medicine and even cosmetics.
The LCD screen was built directly onto the contact lens. In order to do so, the researchers behind the technology needed to create a special type of material.
Previous contact lens displays were limited to just a few pixels that could be used to display an image. The technology developed by Herbert De Smet and his team utilizes the entire contact lens to project an image.
Some speculate that the technology could spell out the end of the smart phone or revolutionize the personal computer. Google, Microsoft, and Apple are all currently developing glasses that contain a built-in computer. The technology could conceivably mean that users could read text messages right on the lens. It could also pose the possibility of displaying driving directions or street signs.
The technology also has medical implications. The technology could be used to create adaptable sunglasses, which would cut down on sunlight-related eye problems. It also could control the transmission of light toward the eye's retina in the event of iris-related problems.
Finally, it could also revolutionize cosmetics. The lens could be used to turn the eye's iris any color that the user wanted, allowing users to change the color according to their moods.
The technology is quite a bit away from being ready for human eyes. Though the technology exists for placing the image on the lens, developers would still need to trick the brain into thinking that the image was farther away from the eye than it really was.
Humorously, the researchers have only managed to make the lens display one thing: dollar signs, in a joke about the way cartoon characters' eyes display dollar signs when they think of a money-making scheme.
