Google Is Casually Trying To Change The Way We See With "Smart" Contact Lenses

Source - Samsung just took another step into science fiction. South Korea has just granted the tech giant a patent for contact lenses with a display that can project images straight into the user’s eye. 

The lenses are equipped with a built-in camera and sensors that can be controlled simply by blinking. Content is sent to your smartphone through embedded antennas. This is where the data is processed. It seems that Samsung is developing the smart contact lenses as an alternative to creating improved augmented reality experiences over the current crop of wearables, reports SamMobile.

With contact lenses instead of glasses, users will be able to enjoy augmented realitycontent more discreetly. Blinking to control an ocular interface may lead to a lot of awkward situations and accidental input, but it’s not entirely unrealistic. Thankfully, there’s always the option of controlling the interface through your smartphone, like you would everything else.

With this development, Samsung joins Google in the arena, which also owns two patents for smart contact lenses. Google’s contact lenses are mainly intended for medical use, with sensors and flexible electronics to read tear fluid chemicals to determine blood sugar levels.

So many technologies are constantly being developed and patented by companies large and small, the news is no reason to get too excited, but it is a reason to be hopeful.

Who cares about the medical implications, I’m interested in the entertainment possibilities. Imagine putting these on athletes and live streaming sports through their point of view. Kyrie’s holding the ball for the last shot, switch to Kyrie vision. Want to see what it’s like fight Floyd Mayweather? Turn on McGregor’s eyes. Who wouldn’t want to watch a POV concert or see the President address the nation through his eyes. The possibilities are endless. Sure, some sports would suck but sports aren’t the only thing you could watch:

“With contact lenses instead of glasses, users will be able to enjoy augmented reality content more discreetly.”

In other words, you don’t need to wear those goofy glasses to watch VR porn anymore. You can just sit on the city bus and stare blankly ahead at your neighbor. Talk about a game changer.

There are risks; they could explode leaving you like Patch the horse or your eyes could get hacked making it impossible to tell fiction from reality but it seems worth it. Especially if they work like Number 2’s eye patch from Austin Powers. As long at someone beta tests it I’m good to go. They would simplify your life; no more phone, no more TV, no more computer, just pop in your smart lenses and everything’s right there. The government is probably already using them for espionage but that’s besides the point.

If this is the direction technology is going theres no telling where we’ll be in fifty years. Twenty years ago the internet was irrelevant and ten years ago we didn’t have iPhones. Yet here we are in 2017 talking about “smart contact lenses.”

Admittedly, I’m a little nervous South Korea is developing the same thing. A little too close to No-Ko if you ask me. Can’t have the hermit kingdom getting their hands on this stuff, not that they’d know what to do with it.

h/t damo