Put on your leggings, sneakers and go for a run. Ten kilometers today. You’re not in the gym, so you’re missing the daily treadmill. You really don’t like wearing a smartwatch or a Fitbit-type activity bracelet, really. There’s no need to look at a baby every few minutes. Not important. And it doesn’t matter because all the information you need: your route, your heart rate, your workout routines, calories burned, the time you run… All of this flashes before your eyes as data. hanging over the landscape.

Secret? None. You wear a pair of smart contact lenses, a technology aimed at retiring, or at least putting augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) glasses in serious trouble, using it to its great advantage: its size, discretion, and comfort.

It may sound like science fiction, but there are companies that can give us the same information as a smartwatch, only working on lenses that are projected directly into our eyes. Mojo Vision has been developing lenses with a microLED display for a long time. no bigger than a grain of sand and sensors powered by solid state batteries. All are integrated into a prosthesis that also acts like conventional contact lenses and assists with correct vision.

Opportunities… and challenges

“Combined with a micro optics and a custom silicon backplate chip, the display can project brilliant text, graphics and high-definition video onto the user’s retina that can be seen indoors, outdoors, and even with eyes closed.” states that its MicroLed is the “smallest and most dense display ever created for dynamic content in the world”: 0.5 millimeter (mm) diameter and 1.8 micron pixel size.

One of its most important features compared to other VR and AR glasses is a system that enables precise eye tracking. “It can provide critical information without interrupting or distracting you,” the company says. Much of his strategy is based on what he describes as Invisible Computing, “a computing experience where information is available and presented only when needed.” User.

That’s it in theory. But… How does it turn into practice? What apps do they have on a daily basis? Much of his speech focuses on athletes, and the company itself has already announced deals with multinationals like Adidas or 18Birdies. Its purpose is for athletes training to have statistics and information about their own body in real time and with corneal strokewithout having to look elsewhere, look down or operate any device with your hands.

Beyond running tracks and gyms, the possibilities offered by smart glasses are as rich as AR/VR glasses, but with a valuable plus: they are practically unnoticeable. For example, they can be very helpful for a lecturer who wants to study without grades; musicians who want to see how the notes and words pass before their eyes; or any passenger who needs to board the plane and directly evaluates information about their service, such as the terminal or boarding gate, without having to look for a screen.

Mojo isn’t the only one working on the possibilities smart lenses can open. As the BBC points out, there are those who are already investigating its applications. health area.

For example, at the University of Surrey, they have developed a contact lens equipped with a photodetector, a temperature sensor, and a glucose sensor that can measure tear fluid levels. They say the prosthesis is flexible, very thin, and its measurements stand out for its precision, as the sensor is in direct contact with the eye. Other interesting applications range from diagnosing pathologies and even planning their treatment.

of course not everything is an advantage and strengths.

Smart contact lenses present significant challenges. From the very beginning, they represent a technological challenge. How to power batteries that need to be extremely small and thin? What autonomy will they offer? How will they communicate? Mojo had to design an ASIC with an ARM Core M0 processor that transmits the lens sensors and AR content to the MicroLED display. Also, CNET states that a device should be attached to the neck.

And beyond the technical complications… If the use of conventional contact lenses requires paying attention to maximum hygiene or avoiding overuse, what about a device like Mojo Vision proposes? At least in April, the lenses did not get management approval for their use, and they still face testing to polish their mechanisms.

However, perhaps the greatest of the challenges is at the regulatory level, and complex balance with the privacy and confidentiality of both the user and those around him. “Any inconspicuous device with a front-facing camera that allows stills or videos to be taken poses privacy risks to spectators,” Access Now’s Daniel Leufer told the BBC.

If it’s already a point of conflict in VR/AR glasses that can activate red light while recording, what happens when there’s a lens that can go completely unnoticed? Challenges don’t just cover the user’s environment; somehow affect it. How to deal with all the information a contact lens can collect, as Mojo suggests, what if the device collects information about what we see and how it affects our bodies?

Pictures | MojoVision