In the recent IEEE Spectrum, Babak A. Parviz discusses advances in miniaturization and contact lenses that could yield Augmented Reality-enabled contacts, powered wirelessly, that can overlay directly over the user’s field of view.
Conventional contact lenses are polymers formed in specific shapes to correct faulty vision. To turn such a lens into a functional system, we integrate control circuits, communication circuits, and miniature antennas into the lens using custom-built optoelectronic components. Those components will eventually include hundreds of LEDs, which will form images in front of the eye, such as words, charts, and photographs. Much of the hardware is semitransparent so that wearers can navigate their surroundings without crashing into them or becoming disoriented. In all likelihood, a separate, portable device will relay displayable information to the lens’s control circuit, which will operate the optoelectronics in the lens.
Later in the article they show photographs and results of actual prototypes used in rabbits with no adverse effects.
I love contact lenses, have been wearing them for years now, but almost find this a bit too much. The idea of a Head Up Display constantly in my eye? I saw a show the other day about this that mentioned that you could use lenses to spend hours in augmented reality. Terrifying really. I think I’ll stick to medical purposes, and at a push, cosmetic. You can read about that at http://topgeocontactlenses.blogspot.com