Smart contact lens prototype puts a Micro LED display on top of the eye

There is a California-based company called Mojo Vision. Similar to smart glasses, the idea is to use augmented reality graphics in front of your eyes to help accomplish daily tasks. We are closer to seeing a final product now that a functioning prototype is present.

Drew Perkins, the CEO of Mojo Vision, said he was the first to have an on-eye demonstration of a feature-complete augmented reality smart contact lens.

The CEO was able to see a compass through the contact and a quote on the screen. He saw an image of Albert Einstein on the internet.

There is a MicroLED display at the center of the lens. It is just 0.02 inches in diameter and has a 1.8-micron pitch. Perkins claimed that it was the smallest and densest display ever created.

The focus was on physics and electronics miniaturization. The power management system was developed with medical grade micro-batteries.

The magnetometer is configured to drive the compass saw, Perkins gyro, and accelerometer. The goal is that you can still see augmented reality even when you're not looking. There's no gesture or voice control in some smart glasses, so eye movement is important. Eye- tracking is used to create the user interface.

It's difficult to see how cumbersome and odd smart glasses are. Stories and Nreal Air use a sunglass-like appearance to fight this.

The current prototype uses an Arm M0 processor that requires you to wear around your neck. The publication said it sends information to the lens and back to the computers that track eye movement. This tech requires custom designs that use a 5 GHz radio and the processor to transmit sensor data off the lens and onto the MicroLED.

That seems to be a big problem for consumers. Even if it's a small chip, being forced to wear something around your neck can be burdensome. It's not clear how warm the device is.

The current prototype uses a hat with an integrated antenna for easier connecting, but we would expect this to be removed from a final product.

The first augmented reality contact lens to reach consumers will not be released until later this year. Getting potential partners, investors, and journalists to try the smart lens is a near term goal.

"With this advancement, we now have a testing platform that helps us refine and build a product that will ultimately lead to submission to the FDA for market approval," Perkins wrote. Several clinical studies will be conducted to test capabilities and give feedback.

People could be walking around with smart contacts in a decade. Athletes wear smart contacts for increased training. He said to use smart contacts to show helpful information, such as when a ride sharing service is coming to pick you up.