Google Glass has a rival: Nano-tech contact lenses that work with a pair of glasses and provide wearers with a virtual canvas on which any media can be viewed or application run, projected onto human eyes, are set to be unveiled in the US.
The high-tech contact lens is due to be previewed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week, becoming a rival to "wearable computing" Google Glass, the futuristic glasses that can shoot video or photos literally with a wink of an eye.
The platform, dubbed “iOptik,” is the brainchild of Washington-based group Innovega, whose breakthrough eyewear system is comprised of two key elements: flat-panels or micro-projectors that are integrated into eyeglasses that provide a gateway for any available media; and iOptik contact lenses that not only deliver a view of near-eye rich media, but given that one in two humans require some form of vision correction an improved view of the environment as well.
The contact lenses can be worn in the usual fashion, with or without the Innovega eyewear. When the eyeglasses, fitted with micro-projectors, are worn, any media can be instantly streamed onto a transparent lens, and the wearer's view of their surroundings is not hampered in any way. "The benefit of simultaneously offering vision correction is particularly important to Asian consumer segments where the prevalence of nearsightedness is near twice that of their non-Asian counterparts," Innovega co-founder and CEO Steve Willey said.
The company has thus far been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and by an undisclosed Asian company, according to CNET.com. Willey explained that Innovega was founded to tackle the problem that has proved to discourage consumers across the world, namely that both the quality and quantity of digital media available from mobile devices often exceeds the capability of tiny mobile displays....MORE
