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Comments: 152 +- Hardware: Where Are Your Contact Lens Displays? on Wednesday November 25, @08:55AM
Posted
by
CmdrTaco
on Wednesday November 25, @08:55AM
from the we'll-use-them-as-huds-in-our-flying-cars dept.
from the we'll-use-them-as-huds-in-our-flying-cars dept.
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displays
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destinyland writes "'We already see a future in which the humble contact lens becomes a real platform, like the iPhone is today,' argues researcher Babak Parvis, 'with lots of developers contributing their ideas and inventions.' He provides an update on the contact lens with transparent circuitry that's being developed at the University of Washington. (Its components will eventually include hundreds of LEDs which form images in front of the eye such as charts and photographs). They've already developed a lens-with-LED prototype that's powered by 330 microwatts of wireless radio-frequency power, and believe the lenses could also be used as biosensors to deliver body chemistry readings (including blood sugar levels). But 'What we've done so far barely hints at what will soon be possible with this technology,' says Dr. Parviz."
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I Seem to Have Misplaced Them ... (Score:5, Funny)
Where Are Your Contact Lens Displays?
Oh, that's right, I left them out in the garage in my flying car. You see, I was running Duke Nukem Forever in Hurd but the battery ran out of power so I set them aside to bring in and recharge at my tabletop cold fusion station. It's okay though, I'll have forever to enjoy them now that Ray Kurzweil's Singularity has happened.
Re:I Seem to Have Misplaced Them ... (Score:5, Funny)
What an insightful Slashdot comment, attached to this accurate summary of an original, well-written online tech story.
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Re:I Seem to Have Misplaced Them ... (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:I Seem to Have Misplaced Them ... (Score:5, Funny)
;_;
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Re:I Seem to Have Misplaced Them ... (Score:4, Insightful)
If the population grows, the flying car has to happen one day, because the roads just get too congested otherwise. I see pictures of India's streets today and shudder when even 25% can and do own cars. China is already experiencing those problems. It's either that, or a real mass transit system like the Germans have, coupled with a revolutionary short distance personal transportation device, something that the Segway was rumored to be, but just wasn't. A bike would do, though a bit slow, a scooter like the original honda cub isn't bad either, but neither fold up enough to take on most busses, trains. It would also take an attitude adjustment on people's parts. The flying car just isn't reality because neither aerodynamic nor lift principles would be satisfactory for the human limitation involved, and anti-gravity would work, if such a thing existed. I would also suggest computer controlled road cars, but I'm not sure if the liability is worth it, if it's only suitable for highways, because, really, people are overall stupid drivers and technology (phones) is only making it worse so far.
DNF is just a game and technically feasible, they just were directionless and unhappy with everything they made. Hurd was superceded by Linux, so it's like complaining that an effective gas lamp was never invented when the lightbulb is already here.
Cold Fusion may be a pipe dream... but I hope they accompany these computer lenses with eyeglass counterparts. I don't like contacts, personally. I can see it happen, but I'd figure the computer power to get anything done would have to be miniaturized so much it'll be at least another 20 years... or that they have a terminal/server configuration where the lens/eyeglass acts as only a display wirelessly connected to a real computer elsewhere, be it on the person himself somewhere or on the internet.
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Re:I Seem to Have Misplaced Them ... (Score:4, Insightful)
If the population grows, the flying car has to happen one day
is that to facilitate transportation, or to solve the population problem? Because flat roads are beyond the abilities of most of the ass-nuggets behind the wheel already.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
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Re:I Seem to Have Misplaced Them ... (Score:4, Funny)
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...not to mention the year of the Linux desktop.
No contacts, please (Score:5, Insightful)
I got rid of my contacts [slashdot.org] back in 2006 (I'm a cyborg). For nearsightedness they're far better than glasses because you need to see all day long, but for a display they're not the right platform. Put those transparent circutis in a pair of glasses; I can keep them in my pocket for when they're needed.
You don't see anyone wearing contact sunglasses, now do you? Not even the ones that darken in sunlight and lighten indoors. Contact lens computer displays is a dumb idea.
Re:No contacts, please (Score:5, Funny)
You don't see anyone wearing contact sunglasses, now do you? Not even the ones that darken in sunlight and lighten indoors.
No, it's because seeing people with solid black eyes would creep people right the hell out. Didn't you see Event Horizon?
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
But imagine the reaction to faint red glow of your eyes...
Re:No contacts, please (Score:5, Funny)
I'm not sure it would be that obvious. Apparently Deanna Troi wore black contacts for all of TNG (as did other betazoids) and I can't say I noticed.
"Hey! Up here!"
Small wonder you missed it...
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Re:No contacts, please (Score:5, Informative)
Professional athletes wear sun-sensitive contacts, actually. They're about the only people who have a big enough need for that kind of thing and can afford them - they're rather expensive.
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Re: (Score:2)
I said: I wear my CONTACT sunglasses at night.
I wear my contact sunglasses at night
I wear my contact sunglasses at night.
I said to you now: I wear my contact sunglasses at night
http://www.anysonglyrics.com/lyrics/c/corey-heart/sunglasses-at-night.htm [anysonglyrics.com]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
they're rather expensive.
I can't understand why they would be. I had a pair of the sun-sensitive glasses years ago, and they didn't cost any more than regular glasses.
BTW, those glasses are NOT GOOD. Like any other muscle, your iris atrophes with disuse and after a year or two, walking outside with the sun sensitive glasses is no different than walking outside with regular glasses for someone who hasn't worn the sun-sensitive ones. And if you walk outside without them it's REALLY bright.
If you wear glasses,
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
In a similar vein, I take the opposite view of corrective lenses ; I actually wear glasses that are the inverse of those an optician would prescribe. I noticed that my distance vision gets worse when I read screens and paper for long hours, so reasoning that this was the source of the problem I bought a pair of cheap pharmacy +1.0 reading glasses to wear while I work. This moves the apparent focal point of my screens further away and results in less deterioration of my distance vision.
The optician wanted to
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Aside from the inconvenience, I haven't seen the health issues addressed. Mainly, what happens to the human eye when it's not only insulated by a contact lens, but also heated by the 330 microwatts needed to power these things?
Where are my contact lense displays? (Score:3, Funny)
I don't know...I seem to have misplaced them. Shit, I'm blind without my visual overlay.
What could possibly go wrong? (Score:3, Insightful)
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and we will add to that Apple's "forced Advertising" to bring joy to all vendors.
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Let us make some Laser emitting diodes and put them behind the eyelids so that they cant even avoid it by closing their eye lids. Wow! You are en evil genius Dr Parviz.
I promise you that they will be ad-supported as well.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Could you imagine the possibilities? *wink wink* .. You've bored at work, so you close your eyes and voila, a peep show all to yourself! No need to leave the office!
Wait... I'll be back. I have to go pull my mind out of the gutter.
Re:What could possibly go wrong? (Score:4, Funny)
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Ultimate terminator "costume"? (Score:2)
Even better, make those lenses so that they emit faint red light "outwards", scaring the crap out of most people that will look into your eyes.
(might be already doable, with "phosphor" & low intensity radiation source, like in Russian watches...not sure about the shielding and the risk of cataract though ;/ )
Visible from the outside? (Score:2, Interesting)
If I displayed a fullscreen hi-res photo of someone's eye on such a lens, would it pass retina scan?
Re: (Score:2)
Probably not: I imagine that the retina scan counts on the retina being a certain distance away.
Re:Visible from the outside? (Score:4, Informative)
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Focus? (Score:5, Interesting)
It strikes me that the real trick isn't putting a display on the lens of the eye, but getting a focussed image. I mean, you could write a crisp, clear letter on someone's eyeball right now, but they wouldn't be able to see it. It'd just be a smudge on their vision. That still leaves you open to using a flash of colour in different directions to attract the wearer's attention to hazards, or other blurry ways of presenting information, mind you. I think the real key will be putting MEMS-directed lasers in there which can draw on the retina, bypassing focussing entirely.
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I think the real key will be putting MEMS-directed lasers in there which can draw on the retina, bypassing focussing entirely.
"Yes officer, I know I just ran over and killed seven children. I was blinded by the lasers in my contact lenses you see..."
Re:Focus? (Score:5, Funny)
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Where Are Your Contact Lens Displays? (Score:5, Informative)
Augmented Reality In a Contact Lens [slashdot.org]
Bionic Contact Lens May Lead to Overlay Displays [slashdot.org]
Contact Lenses for Computer Professionals? [slashdot.org]
Bionic Contact Lens May Lead to Overlay Displays [slashdot.org]
Smart Contact Lenses [slashdot.org]
Permormance-Enhancing Contact Lenses [slashdot.org]
And for the recursive obssesed folks, there's:
Where Are Your Contact Lens Displays? [slashdot.org]
yawn (Score:2)
Health Aspects (Score:2)
Is there a study or research done on the health aspects? I would imagine putting powered circuitry into your eyes is a recipe for disaster. Something that is deemed as safe as todays contact lenses would be the only thing I would ever even want to try.
Also... optically speaking would you be able to read text that is effectively right against your eye? Can we focus clearly that closely?
The ultimate adware (Score:2)
This is the marketing wet dream, forced ads right on the surface of your eyes.
Hacked (Score:2)
Someone is driving on the freeway at night going 75 wearing the smart contacts. As a van is passed on a curve all the LEDs in the contacts light up fully. "Single car crash", states the report, "must have fallen asleep".
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The Blue (Score:5, Funny)
The Blue Cataract of Death.
When they happen, it will be amazing (Score:2)
I'm really excited about the future of augmented reality and augmented senses. I'd love to see enhancements for all our senses. The visual possibilities are obvious (facial recognition, distance calculation, displaying overlay information about whatever you're looking at), but the other senses are equally exciting:
Hearing: Augment my hearing so that when I'm in the dark I can have a sonar type display projected onto my eyes. Night vision is cool, but it still requires some light, and can be baffled by smoke
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It's amazing what they have now [slashdot.org]. My left eye's natural lens (not the cornea, the one behind the iris) was replaced with an artificial lens that sits on struts, allowing it to focus. before the operation I wore contacts for my extreme nearsightedness, plus reading glasses for my age-related farsightedness (yes, you can be both nearsighted and farsighted at the same time; that's what they make bifocal glasses for). The vision in that eye is now BETTER thah 20/20 at all distances. I see better than most twenty
Pipe Dream, like last time. (Score:2)
We've had this discussion before [slashdot.org]. I'll bring up the same point as I did last time: Contact lens displays are going to be limited by the power requirements. The solution they have in this article is equivalent to pressing a cellphone antenna up to your eyeball. It's not going to be healthy; a lot of people would go blind at that level of radiation.
My advice is to wait for the full computer-brain interface.
Hope they don't heat up when they short circuit (Score:2)
Could be kind of painful.
This it great (Score:5, Funny)
These will definitely help me find Sarah Connor.
How do you look at specific things with them? (Score:5, Interesting)
How would someone "look around" on a screen with contacts? Wouldn't the center of the screen always be what you're looking at, drastically minimizing what you can read and properly make out?
How do you focus? (Score:3, Interesting)
I don't know that the technology is theoretically impossible, but I think articles like this usually gloss over this not at all minor technical difficulty. Transparent circuitry is much easier because of this same phenomenon. If you cover up 50% of the area of a contact lens with completely opaque circuitry, you won't see the circuits in your vision, you'll just see a reduced intensity as if you were wearing sunglasses, because the circuitry will be so out of focus it will appear uniform. If your circuitry is only covering 10% of the area, you probably won't even notice the difference.
Hundreds of LEDs (Score:3, Insightful)
Hundreds of LEDs? Why, you could make a 10 X 10 pixel display with that.
Where are the decent Head Mounted Displays? (Score:3, Interesting)
Field of view is really the most important thing for an immersive experience, not the 3D aspect. Imagine the impressive view you would get looking out from the top of a mountain. There is no useful 3D information in the scene since everything is too far away, but it certainly wouldn't feel fake despite the lack of 3D. If you look at the same mountain view through a tiny window though, suddenly you are now longer "there", and it just becomes a picture of a mountain view. That's the dire experience you get from today's narrow field of view. Even the super expensive HMDs that cost as much as a house do not provide a normal human field of view.
I think the problem is that there is no real drive to bring virtual reality to the consumer market. Companies are far too comfortable making games designed to be played on a low field of view window on the world that never moves. If one of the major console makers pushed the idea of VR, it might change things. I won't hold my breath though. I've been waiting 20 years for VR and there is just no will there to go with the idea despite all the technical advances we have made.
Re:Half an hour to insert (Score:4, Informative)
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