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| Mojo Vision, a California startup, says its smart contact lens is part of a move to "invisible computing," which allows people to interact more naturally with technology (AFP Photo/HO) |
Washington
(AFP) - A startup focused on "invisible computing" Thursday unveiled
a smart contact lens which delivers an augmented reality display in a user's
field of vision.
The Mojo
Vision contact lens offers a display with information and notifications, and
allows the user to interact by focusing on certain points.
The rigid
contact lens, which the company has been developing in stealth mode for some 10
years, may also be used to help people with visual impairments by using
enhanced image overlays, and has obtained US approval for testing it as a
medical device.
"Mojo
has a vision for invisible computing where you have the information you want
when you want it and are not bombarded or distracted by data when you
don't," said chief executive Drew Perkins.
In a
demonstration to an AFP reporter, company executives showed how the contact
lens could enable users to see a virtual teleprompter, navigation instructions
or other interactions that appear floating in the field of vision by projecting
a micro-LED display to the retina.
A user,
wearing two lenses which may be fitted with a correction prescription, could
"click" by concentrating on an icon -- to launch a music player, for
example -- and turn off by looking away.
Mojo said
it had no timetable for a commercial launch. But it has received approval from
the US Food and Drug Administration as a "breakthrough" device to
test the contact lens to help people with visual impairments such as macular
degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa.
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A smart
contact lens prototype developed by California startup Mojo Vision delivers
an
augmented reality display in the user’s field and is being tested to help
people with
visual impairments (AFP Photo/Rob Lever)
|
"These
are people who are underserved by technology today," said Steve Sinclair,
senior vice president of the startup based in Saratoga, California.
The company
said the contact lens is designed to provide overlays that augment sight for people
with "low vision" and may assist in mobility, reading and other
functions.
Mojo has
raised $100 million and has executives with experience at Google, Apple and
other Silicon Valley firms, with opticians and ophthalmologists also working on
the project.
The contact
lens aims to enable people to move away from physical devices and interact more
naturally with technology. It also could have business applications, allowing
workers or specialists access to real-time information in their field of vision
without a bulky headset.
A challenge
has been to pack into the lens the complex circuitry, image sensor, wireless
radio and battery needed for the wearable device.
Executives
said the current version would transmit and receive information wirelessly
through a portable relay box which could be clipped to a belt, but they hope to
link directly to smartphones in the future.
The company
will be testing its vision-enhancing applications with the Vista Center for the
Blind and Visually Impaired in Palo Alto, California.
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