Virtual Reality Contact Lenses

When you mention Virtual Reality to most people the first thing that will probably come to their mind is a clunky helmet that covers your face and projects life like images. Although this may be a primitive image of how people perceive virtual reality, this technology usually requires some kind of heavy and large hardware in order to function. Consider some of the other topics we have discussed in this blog such as helmets for the military, holographic projectors that transmit life like images, TV screens and large controls that simulate an operation, among others; each one requires a heavy piece of machinery in order to function.

Nonetheless this may change in the very near future as various companies are trying to develop contact lenses that enhance our visual capabilities as human beings and have the capability of projecting virtual and computer generated images. If developed properly this particular advancement in technology can have a huge impact in how we live our lives; the amount of computing hardware we use and have may become increasingly obsolete.

The most important factor in developing such sophisticated eyewear is that humans will be able to see things better than what their natural capacity allows. Aside from correcting defective vision, digitally enhanced contact lenses could enhance our ability to focus and zoom on things. Theoretically humans can have “eagle vision”, or potentially something even better.

But more than enhancing our natural vision these contact lenses can replace a lot of things we consider essential today; the first thing that comes to mind is your smartphone and tablets. These units have increasingly become part of our lives due to their portability and the amount of functions they provide. We can browse the internet for instant information, view movies, read books, answer emails and phone calls etc. With a “virtual reality” contact lens you could theoretically transfer most uses of a smartphone directly to your eye. To write emails and phone calls you could simply incorporate a small microphone somewhere on your body so as to give commands. You could also project movies and read books through the contact lens. These are just some of the functions that smart phones have that we could see being transferred to a contact lens, but the potential for it is definitely there.

Another potentially important use of digitally enhanced contact lenses is for the military. In order to not go into much detail of the potential benefits of this type of technology in the military, simply try to remember the terminator movies. If you recall the Terminators had a very cool computer vision that gave them data regarding their targets and environments which gave them a competitive advantage over regular humans. Essentially soldiers would have “Terminator Vision”.

Most of this technology is being tested today and should be market ready for 2014. We must consider that this technology may have to go through some trial and error before it is incorporated in everyday life or even in the military, but the potential benefits could significantly alter how we live our lives moving forward.

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