Technology for superhuman vision

University of Washington researchers have been developing an electronic contact lens that could someday display important information in your field of vision. Early prototypes have been tested on rabbits for short stints without any adverse effects and the researchers say lenses that can display a few pixels worth of information will be available soon.

The research is being funded by the National Science Foundation and scientists recently presented their findings at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ conference. Using super-thin plastics and electronics just a few nanometers thick, they managed to fashion some circuits and red light emitting diodes into a lens. These lenses were then placed onto the eyes of rabbits for up to 20 minutes.

A working bionic lens could be a boon to tech workers who need quick access to important information. Of course you can bet the military would be very interested in this technology for their soldiers.

For now the LEDs on the contacts don’t light up, but the researchers say one that can show a few pixels of light will be available “fairly quickly” according to the source article from the University of Washington news service. Full display contacts will still take “a while”.