Electrical Circuits in Contact Lenses
22 Comments By Tal Siach on January 19th, 2008 in Hi Tech News
“We have the technology to rebuild this man” - The Six Million Dollar Man
A new technological advancement has enabled electrical circuit boards to be built within a contact lens (University of Washington). At this time it has been tested only on rabbits (shame on them) and has shown no adverse effects.
Currently the electrical circuits have not been programmed for any application or use but allowed a direction to be formed towards advanced possibilities. The researchers at the University of Washington have been able to find a way to attach circuits to a contact lens without it being harmful to the user. Although it is just a step in a highly innovative direction, can you imagine what the progress would entail?
What if, just like in movies such as The Terminator, individuals wearing these lenses would be able to receive valuable information straight to their contacts and also see to further distances. Phone numbers, images, or text, would be brought to your eyes only. Think about a video call with a business partner, where you may speak using an ear piece, but you can actually have an eye to eye conversation.
This could also an advancement in the medical industry. Perhaps those that wear contacts to improve their eye sight could simply have their prescription adjusted over an actual network with the user’s approval. The logistics and ideas still have to be honed and determined, but I believe this is an amazing innovation.
I know we still have a long way to go, but this is a wonderful beginning.
Via: medGadget
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January 20th, 2008 at 6:14 am
mark of the beast
January 20th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
The only reason our eyes don’t see in X-ray or infra-red is because the rods & cones in our retina aren’t attuned to those frequencies of the electro-magnetic spectrum.
With that in mind, the military application for such visual augmentations is pretty obvious.
Good stuff, Tal…
January 20th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
” where you may speak using an ear piece, but you can actually have an eye to eye conversation.”
Err. Only if you are wearing an extremely goofy helmet with a faceward camera pertruding in front also.
January 20th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Titannick, that’s so 1980….
Wireless internet is old school, wireless electricity has arrived - circuitry to project a visual is already in development, and a perfect tie-in to this tech.
January 20th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I can see this being a potential medical and scientific breakthrough. Everywhere from Military purposes to everyday use, the possibilities are infinite as to the uses that this could bring to the world. Also, with every positive, there is a negative. I can see this being used for things such as espionage and terrorism as well. Before the completion of this project, I would also come up with a counter-measure as well. All in all I think it would be a good idea to produce this to the populace.
January 20th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
It is impossible to see in x-ray vision
x-rays create “shadows” on special paper that turns black when “rayed”
so to get the “vision” you’d have to put the sheet behind the person and it would have to be a eraserable piece of paper
the paper would have to broadcast a signal to you huds or what ever
January 21st, 2008 at 12:43 am
I hope they didn’t test these in animal’s eyes.
January 21st, 2008 at 8:11 pm
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January 21st, 2008 at 9:39 pm
I wounder if this could ever be used for blind people. If you could directly transmit pulses of electricity into the proper nerves, you could restore vision is a way that would feel natural. I know it would be a long way off, but…
January 22nd, 2008 at 7:10 am
[...] January 22, 2008 at 12:10 am (Uncategorized) (awesome, cyborg, nanotechnology, sci-fi, science) I was stumbling through the internet and ran across this article: Electrical Circuits in Contact Lenses. [...]
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
“can you imagine what the progress would entail” is just nerd-talk for “it doesn’t work at all”.
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Comment by Paige: I hope they didn’t test these in animal’s eyes.
Haha. Way to read an article, sunshine.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Am I the only one that find that really creepy looking? And “paige”, i hope they tested it on animals, because the animals are definitely in danger or dieing… or exploding… or brushing their teeth. (pssst - dont look now, but thats an animal eye in the picture.)
January 24th, 2008 at 2:48 am
That is too cool! But instead of the circuit board motif, I recommend that they offer monograms, dollar signs and even business logos! Imagine being paid to advertise a business on your eyeballs… You’d be a walking, talking, SEEING billboard!
January 24th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Hi everyone, thank you so much for your feedback.
@Wayne: You are right, the military could find so many different uses for such a contact lens.
@Titannick: This is just the beginning. The actual electric circuits haven’t been used yet. The major progress is being able to develop them in a contact lens without harming the individual (or animal). In the future, I bet there will be amazing uses for such a contact lens.
@Stroud: I can see your point completely. Giving the example of the Terminator is only good if he is on our side
If the future item with such capabilities gets in the wrong hands, then all the potential is used for harm, not good.
@Paige: Unfortunately I believe they have tested it in animals…and I do sympathize with you and mentioned so in the post - “shame on them”. The University mentioned that no harm was done, but I wonder how many animals were harmed until they got it developed right.
@Nick: That would be amazing. That kind of medical breakthrough could be phenomenal.
@SadPanda: I am trying to imagine a wonderful and innovative future
I truly hope that they progress to great levels.
@Crystal: Wow, what a business idea! Not only will it be used for purposes to improve lives (hopefully) but another way to market and advertise?
January 30th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
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May 17th, 2008 at 11:08 am
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September 17th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
thats pretty crazy… so the terminator isnt as far fetched as we all thought after all!
-jack