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More than Meets the Eye continued
and brightness for outdoor use, according
to Vuzix, Rochester, N.Y. Output from the
display engine goes into a thin polymer
waveguide lens with hologram structures
on the surface that move the light along
the waveguide, then expand images into
the wearer’s real-world view.
Based in part on technology licensed
from Nokia Corp., the system will allow
Vuzix to reduce its display-lens thickness
from about 1cm to 1.4mm. As a result,
the company’s new glasses will weigh
considerably less than its current AR
offerings, according to Clark Dever, the
firm’s marketing director.
Vuzix plans to offer its SMART
Glasses technology in lines of monocular
and binocular products for commercial,
Receiving infoRmation fRom youR
glasses is a pretty radical concept,
but what about having that information
displayed directly on your eyeballs? That
could happen. According to a recent
paper, researchers at the University of
Washington have demonstrated the safety
of a prototype wireless visual-display lens
tested in a live rabbit’s eye.
The testing verifies that antennas, radio
chips, control circuitry and microscale
light sources can be integrated into
a contact lens worn by animals and,
presumably, humans, according to
the paper, which was co-authored by
Babak Parviz, an associate professor of
electrical engineering at the University of
Washington.
Building the lens required circuits
made from metal that was only a few
nanometers thick and LEDs 0.33mm in
diameter. To help focus the images, arrays
of tiny lenses were inserted into the
contacts.
The lens contains only a single pixel of
information, but if more pixels could be
added, the lens could display information
such as text messages and be used in
conjunction with devices such as GPS
navigation systems and gaming devices.
As of now, the working model will only
function if the wireless power-transmitting
antenna and the receiving antenna on the
lens are in very close proximity to each
28 | MAY/JUNE 2012 | MICROmanufacturing
Innovega
The iOptik contact lens from Innovega.
industrial and consumer markets (see
page 26). Dever reports that monocular
SMART Glasses should be shipping to
industrial and defense clients later this
year.
Next year, a two-lens consumer version
With smart contact lenses, seeing is believing
University of Washington
Animal testing verifies that electronic devices can be
integrated into a wearable contact lens. Shown is a smart
contact lens placed in a rabbit’s eye.
Sensimed
other (about 2cm). Increasing that distance
will make the model more functional.
According to Parviz, a contact lens
capable of augmented-reality functions is
years away.
of the glasses is scheduled to be released.
This product, designed to look like a pair
of designer sunglasses, will probably sell
for between $350 and $600, a fraction
of the cost of the industrial versions,
according to Dever. Like the glasses in
the Google video, these glasses will give
wearers hands-free access to all sorts of
useful information as they go about their
business, according to the company.
Further away still from market-ready
status is the iOptik display system, AR
eyewear technology being developed
by Innovega Inc., Bellevue, Wash. With
special optics incorporated into contact
lenses that sit on the eye, the system
can provide a wide field of view without
the bulky glasses or helmets that would
normally be required to produce such
a view, according to Randall Sprague,
“For commercial
applications, each
aspect needs further
development, but there
should be no impassable
technical barriers,” said Dr.
Sami Suihkonen, a scientist
from the Aalto University
School in Finland, who is
collaborating with Parviz
and others on the project.
“Our prototypes have
been assembled manually,
making it difficult to take
this product, as is, to
larger-scale production,”
he said.
Parviz’s team is also
working on a lens that
can monitor the blood
sugar levels of people
with diabetes. Coupled
with a wireless data
transmitter, the lens could
relay medical information
instantly.
The development
timeline for these lenses
is not yet clear. “There are
still many technical issues to be resolved,
including sensor stability and creating a
complete and reliable communication link,”
Parviz said. He stressed that collecting
medical data from the eye is one thing, but
The Sensimed
Triggerfish sensor
has a diameter of
14.1mm and records
data for 30 seconds
every 5 minutes
during a 24-hour
period.