AR contact lenses from science fiction to reality?

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 16 (Reporter Peng Qian) Sitting in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window on the 42nd floor of 501 City, "I" drank a lemon-flavored cold drink from the service robot while asking the system to play a good background music with voice commands, and a long list of songs immediately appeared in front of "I". This is the image projected directly onto the retina by smart contact lenses, which only "I" myself can see.

This is a scene from the science fiction novel "Ant Colony", and in the human society depicted in the novel a hundred years later, smart contact lenses have become the standard. In reality, riding on the east wind of the "meta-universe", many companies announced the latest research and development trends of AR (augmented reality) contact lenses this year. Have they really gone from science fiction to reality?

Concepts & Products

On September 17, 2020, a visitor experienced an AR (augmented reality) glasses optical display module. On the same day, the 23rd China Beijing International Science and Technology Industry Expo opened in Beijing. Photo by Ju Huanzong, Xinhua News Agency

According to the New York Post recently reported, Apple may plan to develop a smart contact lens that coordinates with devices such as Apple mobile phones, so that users can make phone calls, browse the web, play games and other functions while contacting the real world. Some industry analysts predict that Apple is expected to release this smart contact lens product around 2030.

Two companies have claimed to have developed prototypes of AR contact lenses. U.S. smart biohardware company InWith showcased its soft contact lenses at the 2022 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Similar in appearance to the soft contact lenses worn every day, these AR contact lenses are made of hydrogel material, slim and elastic, with a circle of gold lines and microelectronics embedded in the lenses.

In an interview with the media, the company's chief executive, Michael Hayes, said that the glasses can be paired with external devices such as smartphones, and users can see virtual information superimposed on the real world in real time. "For example, what is the speed limit on the road in front of you? In which direction should I go? How far is it from the next exit? ”

The company said it plans to obtain a breakthrough device license from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this year and bring the glasses to market after the approval is approved. The company has filed key patents for integrating solid components and circuits into hydrogel materials, as well as new technologies such as powering contact lenses by capturing kinetic energy in the blink of an eye and using liquid from the lens box to charge the lenses.

Mojo Vision, a startup also based in California, has chosen the hard contact lens route. In 2020, the company unveiled its first smart contact lens, the Mojo Lenses, a rigid lens with an embedded display. According to reports, the glasses used in the micro LED (light emitting diode) display is only the size of sand particles, placed in the center of the pupil, is the core of the glasses, the display will directly focus the light on the retina behind the eyeball, so that people can obtain electronic information superimposed on the real world vision, such as can be realized on the ski slope to display route information, show pace when running or show key points during speech.

Multiple application scenarios

Ski enthusiasts ski at a ski resort in Hohhot on February 1. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Wang Zheng)

What are the advantages of AR contact lenses compared to traditional AR external frame glasses? Mojo said AR contact lenses can provide real-time information prompts during activities, avoid interrupting the user's attention or activity, and liberate people from handheld devices or external screens.

In the future, AR contact lenses may be mainly used in scenes that are not suitable for wearing glasses, which can take into account the aesthetics. For example, in sports and travel, you can avoid the risk of strenuous activity causing glasses to fall, and you can also display health data such as heart rate, pulse, and blood pressure in real time, as well as exercise data such as pace, route, and calorie consumption.

Mojo said that the glasses will first help the visually impaired in the future. Glasses can adjust contrast and light in real time to help achieve a wider range of visual perception and night vision functions, in addition to a zoom function, which can be used to observe facial expressions in detail.

InWith believes that the first applications of AR contact lenses will be "adjustable vision" and "enhanced vision" achieved through mobile devices such as smartphones, such as providing better vision for myopia or hyperopia patients, and can also be applied to the latest augmented reality or mixed reality vision applications. The company said in a press release that the ultimate application will be to achieve fully immersive "metaverse" vision, providing users with a super lightweight, physically invisible way to achieve real-world vision and "metaverse" vision back and forth.

The technical challenges are diverse

On November 8, 2018, at the Medtronic booth in the medical device and health care exhibition area of the first China International Import Expo held in Shanghai, the staff displayed the world's smallest pacemaker. Photo by Han Yuqing, Xinhua News Agency

At present, both companies have only shown samples and have not demonstrated specific technical details in detail. Some industry experts interviewed told reporters that there has not yet been an official listing of AR contact lenses in the world, the technology is not so fast and mature, and the distance from landing is relatively far.

Some industry experts believe that since AR contact lenses are wireless devices, power supply problems are a major challenge. Electrical energy that relies on the blink of an eye to obtain an unstable voltage may not be used effectively, and even if a solid-state battery is used like Mojo, the long-term endurance has to be questioned. In addition, due to the amount of computation involving a certain amount of information processing, it is also difficult for the CPU (central processor) of the display processor to be completely embedded in the contact lens, such as Mojo simply put the CPU and GPU (graphics processor) in the neckband module, and the contact lens only does the display.

What also needs to be considered are the cost price and health and safety issues. This contact lens requires long-term contact with the human eye, and the hygiene and safety should not be underestimated. Some netizens are worried about product comfort. Some netizens also raised the risk of technology abuse, such as concerns about the hidden danger of illegal candid shooting in the embedded camera in contact lenses.

Hayes believes that at the beginning, there will be people who are slightly worried or opposed, but at present, there are many electronic devices implanted in the human body that have been accepted by people, such as electronic pacemakers, etc. "When people really wear AR contact lenses and experience different visual worlds, they will slowly get used to it."