Get Superhuman Vision with the “Bionic" Contact Lenses

Posted January 18th, 2008 by Lisa Zyga

Researchers have developed new contact lenses that contain circuits, LEDs, and a "powder" of electrical components that can enable an average human being to possess superhuman vision.

The contact lenses would allow images to be displayed in a person's vision, superimposed on the real world.

According to the researchers, from the University of Washington, some of the possible applications include the following:

*zooming in on distant objects

*get useful facts to pop up in your field of view

*create virtual cross-hairs

*holographic driving control panels

*surfing the Web

*visual aids for vision-impaired people

*immersive video games

The team suggests that the "Bionic Eye" lenses could have a much greater potential of uses. How about a personalized wide-screen TV?

The researchers explained that one of the most difficult parts of designing the lenses is making them biologically safe. So far, they have only tested the lenses on rabbits, with no negative effects. Electrical circuits consist of toxic chemicals, but the scientists built them from layers of metal only a few nanometers thick.

The LEDs are almost as tiny, with a diameter of one-third of a millimeter. Other electrical components are so tiny the scientists describe them as a "grayish powder" which they sprinkled onto a sheet of plastic. The components then self-assembled themselves based on their shapes and micro-scale forces.

All these components could be positioned on the lenses outside of the transparent part of the eye.

In the future, the scientists hope to enable the lenses to communicate wirelessly with other devices. They also plan to power the system using a combination of solar cells located on the contact lenses, and radio-frequency power. Although a full display is a ways off, the scientists hope to create a basic version in the near future.

Via: University of Washington

Lisa Zyga
Science Blogger
InventorSpot.com

If you like our site, please consider adding us to your blogroll.
If you like this article and want to see more like it, please subscribe to our feed.

RSS feed

Check out the front page for what's new at InventorSpot.com or

READ: New Technology Screens for Breast Cancer with Hair Strand
READ: Learn History with Online Time Machine
READ: Craziest American Flag Art
READ: Sexiest Furniture Alive ...or How to Get a Woodie
READ: 10 Weirdest Sports from Around the World
READ: Slap on the Ham and Make Sandwich Art

Bookmark/Search this post with:

Comments

Uhhhh.. animal testing...

Submitted on January 18th, 2008 by Fausto Fonseca (not verified)

Uhhhh.. animal testing... that's bad!!!

Only bad for the animal.

Submitted on January 23rd, 2008 by Anonymous (not verified)

Only bad for the animal.

If people are against animal

Submitted on January 24th, 2008 by MIke (not verified)

If people are against animal testing, let them be the first to try something. When a new drug is invented, I say test it on an animal first. I would rather have rabbit go blind than a person.

for good sakes if that was

Submitted on February 3rd, 2008 by Anonymous (not verified)

for good sakes if that was implemented on people it would be great!|!!!!!

Million Dollar Bunny

Submitted on February 3rd, 2008 by Anonymous (not verified)

Bionic Bunnies will take over the world!!!

Animal Testing is wrong. Period. Man makes justifies his greed.

Submitted on February 26th, 2008 by Anonymous (not verified)

"against animal testing, let them be the first"

Just FYI I'm a computer analyst and a techie. And the idea of bionic contacts is way cool. But not at the suffering of a living thing.

I wish the government would give us the choice of human testing.

I'd rather a prisoner who's raped and killed a woman or tortured a family could be a choice for testing over an innocent animal that has no choice and reaps no benefits from the whole thing.

Man justifies his cruelty with his failings. It will alleviate human suffering, make it more convenient for humans, be a cool thing for humans.

So what? There is other life on the planet. We live in heated houses, get into our heated/air conditioned cars, drive comfortably to the one of 100000 coffeeshops and glide to our place of work.

There are homeless people and pets and wildlife being pushed out or slaughtered for coats that need help.

Really we need bionic contacts?

We are judged by how we treat our weakest member.

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man"
-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

Let all bear in mind that a society is judged not so much by the standards attained by its more affluent and privileged members as by the quality of life which it is able to assure for its weakest members.
~H.E. Javier Perez de Cuellar

The moral test of a government is how it treats those who are at the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those who are in the shadow of life, the sick and the needy, and the handicapped.
~Hubert Humphrey