A breakthrough development has enabled microcircuits to be embedded into a contact lens.
A breakthrough development has enabled microcircuits to be embedded into a contact lens.
Most advances in retinal implants concentrate on restoring sight, that’s why this bionic contact lens, developed by a team of researchers at the University of Washington, is one of a kind.
The potential uses of this technology are numerous, ranging from virtual displays for pilots to video-game projections and even telescopic vision for soldiers.
A working prototype of a lens-embedded antenna that draws power for the device from radio frequencies has already been created. The next steps are to build a version that can display several pixels and begin testing on humans.
The contact is made using a technique called self-assembly. Researchers dust the specifically designed contact with microscale components that automatically bond to predetermined receptor sites. The shape of each component dictates where it attaches.
“There’s a lot of room to expand,” Babak Parviz, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at UW, says of the technology. “You can let your imagination run wild.”
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