Samsung patents contact lenses with built-in camera that projects images directly into the eye - Forget smart glasses

Forget smart glasses: Samsung patents contact lenses with built-in camera that projects images directly into the eye

• Contact lenses will include a display, camera, antenna and sensors
• The antenna will link up to a smartphone, which processes images
• Google also has two patents for similar smart contact lens designs

Samsung has been granted a patent for contact lenses that project images directly into the eye.

The patent, awarded in South Korea, includes a contact lens equipped with a display, a camera, an antenna, and several sensors that detect movement.

The contact lens will use the antenna to link up to a smartphone, which processes the image sent into the eyes.

Samsung has been granted a patent for contact lenses that project images directly into the eye. The patent, awarded in South Korea, includes a contact lens equipped with a display, a camera, an antenna, and several sensors that detect movement

Samsung has been granted a patent for contact lenses that project images directly into the eye. The patent, awarded in South Korea, includes a contact lens equipped with a display, a camera, an antenna, and several sensors that detect movement

HOW IT WORKS 

The contact lenses will be equipped with a display, a camera, an antenna, and several sensors that detect movement.

The system will use the antenna to link up to a smartphone, which processes the image sent into the eyes.

The lens can then send images onto the wearer's eye and record their surroundings. 

Google is testing a prototype for a smart contact lens that we built to measure glucose in tears continuously using a wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor

The two said they would produce the first glucose monitoring lens for diabetics and one to treat farsightedness, it was announced.

However, the firm hinted at 'other uses' for the technology with patent of a lens that includes a built in camera.

According to PatentBolt, the system could even be used to help the blind see.

The sensors will be used to control the images using movements such as blinks. The lens can then send images onto the wearer's eye and record their surroundings. Pictured is the basic layout of Samsung's contact lens design, according to the patent application

For example, a blind person wearing Google's contact lens with a built-in camera may be walking on a sidewalk and approaching an intersection,' it says.

'The analysis component of the contact lens can process the raw image data of the camera to determine processed image data indicating that the blind person is approaching intersection with a crosswalk and establish that there is a car approaching the intersection.'

Like Samsung, the lens also has wireless capabilities allowing it to link to a smartphone, which can be used to process data and give the user audio commands.