Forget Fixing Poor Eyesight... How About Improving Eyesight With A Virtual Overlay

from the just-like-the-terminator dept

Wed, Sep 23rd 2009 10:59pm — Mike Masnick

I've never needed corrective eyewear of any kind (though, I sense I may finally be reaching the point where I need to explore such things), and I have to admit that I've always been a bit squeamish about the concept of putting contact lenses in my eyes. But with some engineers working on ways to build a virtual display system into a contact lens, so you can overlay what you see with additional information, it may become way too tempting not to use contact lenses at some point. Forget computer screens... you could just do all your computing with your eyes closed (or open). Suddenly, the whole concept of augmented reality becomes a lot bigger than just some silly app on your iPhone. It sounds like the prototypes are still pretty early stage, but this is one "science fiction" type idea that seems like it may actually have a chance of becoming real at some point.

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Filed Under: augmented reality, contact lenses, eyesight

23 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2009 @ 11:05pm

Personally I don't want anything that emits EMF (and most electronic devices do) that near my eyes.
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Sep 2009 @ 1:23pm
  
  Re:
  Then you better go live in a cave. The sun is the biggest source of EMF out there and you see it every day.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2009 @ 11:12pm

Cool!
But something we already have the technology to do is the "Frog Concept"
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- Esahc (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 7:50am
  
  Re: Cool!
  I'm ok with allot of fashions, even shock rockers & full facial tattoos, but if I say someone walking down the street wearing one of those I'd want to kill it.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Sep 2009 @ 11:18pm

Cool!
One thing though is that every elctronic emits heat and I wonder if it will be safe for long periods of time to use such a device or if as radio tower technicials know those circuits could absorb those wavelenghts and transform them into heat and that would be bad for eyes everywhere LoL

But aside from that and some minor issues like toxic materials(kidding) it is still a cool concept. Maybe it will be possible to use organic electronics to do it.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Sep 2009 @ 12:42am

I'll sign up for beta testing. Hell yes.
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Enrico Suarve, 24 Sep 2009 @ 12:45am

Cyberpunk says no
Hey I've been there playing Cyberpunk in the 80's - too much augmentation reduces your empathy level to dangerous levels.

One minute you'r walking down the street normally, just one failed dice roll later you're battling with cyber-psychosis, killing old grannies.
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- Griper, 24 Sep 2009 @ 9:47am
  
  Re: Cyberpunk says no
  I remember a story about 10+ years ago, a blind guy had a camera feed images directly to a part of his brain. Only thing he only had black & white images and lousy resolution. But by now I'm sure he can get an augment for a targeting reticle to make it easier to kill them grannies
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Peter Meijer, 24 Sep 2009 @ 1:22am

Virtual sound overlay
Going beyond improving eyesight one may think of substituting or supplementing eyesight with an auditory augmented reality overlay encoding visual information (Android application for the totally blind)
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tacticapple (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 2:00am

massive
sounds scary to be honest. some people would trun into vegetables and some would become completely psychotic
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Blatant Coward (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 2:32am

RE: Cyberpunk says no
"Hey I've been there playing Cyberpunk in the 80's - too much augmentation reduces your empathy level to dangerous levels."

If working in a call center didn't do it, some silly contact lens won't.

Although there was that one week in Washington state....
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Jesse C. Anderson (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 2:37am

Eyesight with A Virtual Overlay
Why not just glasses,like we already have, it would be better to put then on then to put then in. Sign me up.
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- dkp, 24 Sep 2009 @ 11:42am
  
  Re: Eyesight with A Virtual Overlay
  I have seen this tech in glasses to I forget where but the company was working on both
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Ronald J Riley (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 3:23am

Thinking Ouside the Box
Mike,

It is nice to see you thinking outside the box. Keep that up and you just might learn how to become an inventor. And then you might actually understand just how much work goes into producing an invention and the need for inventors to be fairly compensated so that they can afford to continue to invent.

With this would come an understanding that all those self professed "innovators" who build their fortunes stealing from actual inventors are scum. While not every scummy patent pirating "innovator" is a member of the Coalition for Patent Fairness & PIRACY the group most certainly has a significant percentage of the worst players.

Ronald J. Riley,

I am speaking only on my own behalf.
Affiliations:
President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR act PIAUSA.org
Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
Senior Fellow - www.PatentPolicy.org
President - Alliance for American Innovation
Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
Washington, DC
Direct (810) 597-0194 / (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 8 pm EST.
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- Misanthropist (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 3:49am
  
  Re: Thinking Ouside the Box
  funniest RJR post ever.
  
  Most clueless patent troll around. Keep up the drivel!
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  - Ady, 24 Sep 2009 @ 5:42am
    
    Re: Re: Thinking Ouside the Box
    I second that!... Twice!
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Sep 2009 @ 6:10am
  
  Re: Thinking Ouside the Box
  bUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
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Stanley the Whale, 24 Sep 2009 @ 6:05am

Very nifty
And it's name... the Apple iBall. I've been waiting forever to use that one.
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- Hephaestus (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 6:18am
  
  Re: Very nifty
  Dude .... very funny !!! I actually cackled on that one .... Big Ole GRIN
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Tek'a R (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 6:44am

Huzzah, Augmented Reality. Now i just need my rigger implants.

More.. i mean, Less to the point RJR, These guys are real inventors. that means that they are actually creating something and improving on it. See you back here later when a larger firm buys the tech (legally) and suddenly gets sued by someone owning an ancient patent on "System of displaying images".

Not because that person has anything to do with this development, but simply because they were waiting for a target with more money then a university.

boo bad lawsuits that could stifle innovation.
Hooray cyberpunk future!
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AMATI, 24 Sep 2009 @ 6:58am

You don't need the hassle of yearly software updates. If you want to see with your eyes closed, put glass window into your eyelid.

And you don't have to register the software or give SSN to mob for registration procedure.
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LoL, 24 Sep 2009 @ 10:03am

@Esahc
Would you feel the same if you saw the frog concept with this one?
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Dark Helmet (profile), 24 Sep 2009 @ 10:39am

Huh...
"Suddenly, the whole concept of augmented reality becomes a lot bigger"

I knew that Deus Ex JC Denton outfit would come in handy eventually...

FYI, funniest Deus Ex website ever: http://www.it-he.org/deus.htm
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