With new bionic contact lens, text will be up close and personal

BBC : A group of researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle is developing a contact lens that can project images in front of the eye through the use of an embedded pixel array. Such a device has been challenging to create because it not only requires a suitable power source and mechanical and electrical integration of its micrometer-scale components but it also must be biocompatible. In addition, the human eye usually can focus only on objects at least a few centimeters away, whereas a contact lens rests on the eye’s surface. Nevertheless, the researchers have built a single-pixel prototype device, which they have successfully tested on rabbits. In humans, such lenses could have many uses, such as to relay information from navigation systems, enhance video gaming, or alert the wearer to physiological problems like abnormal glucose levels, write Babak Parviz and colleagues in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering.