DeviceGuru

Researchers at the University of Washington have created a contact lens that includes electronic circuitry and LEDs. Eventually, ‘bionic’ contact lenses such as these could provide superhuman vision, or could be used for 3D virtual reality displays.

According to the team, possible applications for electronically-enhanced contact lenses such as these include:

• Virtual displays for drivers and pilots
• Video games that create a virtual world without restricting the players’ range of motion
• Internet surfing on a midair virtual display

“People may find all sorts of applications for it that we have not thought about. Our goal is to demonstrate the basic technology and make sure it works and that it’s safe,” said Babak Parviz, a UW assistant professor of electrical engineering, who heads the UW group that’s developing electronics for contact lenses.

“Ideally, installing or removing the bionic eye would be as easy as popping a contact lens in or out, and once installed the wearer would barely know the gadget was there,” Parviz added.

(Click each image to enlarge)

The device is in a prototype stage at this point. The lenses, which currently do not correct the wearer’s vision, have been tested on rabbits for up to 20 minutes with no adverse effects, the team said. The device includes a display based on red LEDs, but the display has not yet been lit up.

“There is a large area outside of the transparent part of the eye that we can use for placing instrumentation,” notes Parviz. The team hopes to power the device by means of a combination of RF power and solar cells embedded in the lens; they’re also exploring the idea of adding wireless communications to/from the lens.

The bionic eye project was presented on Jan. 17 in a session at the IEEE’s international conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, according to the team.

For further information, contact Parviz via email.