Bionic contact lens
January 18, 2008 2:31 PM Subscribe
Bionic contact lens invented. That is all.
They claim it will be useful. While I think it's damn cool, how long before someone sees this and thinks "Wow, now how can I make it show you commercials when you walk by my store?"
They claim it will be useful. While I think it's damn cool, how long before someone sees this and thinks "Wow, now how can I make it show you commercials when you walk by my store?"
Does it go deet deet deet deet deet?
posted by fleetmouse at 2:40 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by fleetmouse at 2:40 PM on January 18, 2008
what is WRONG with you people? This is so badass.
posted by dismas at 2:43 PM on January 18, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by dismas at 2:43 PM on January 18, 2008 [3 favorites]
How long before someone figures out how to show you porn on the insides of your eyes?
Not long, I'll warrant.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:48 PM on January 18, 2008
Not long, I'll warrant.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:48 PM on January 18, 2008
No firewire either. Can't watch movies.
Floppy, though.
posted by empath at 2:51 PM on January 18, 2008
Floppy, though.
posted by empath at 2:51 PM on January 18, 2008
The obvious problems they haven't solved are getting power and data to the display. Right now they've only addressed the manufacturing issues of getting display technologies into a contact lens, not an insignificant problem but it's still far from OMG STEVE AUSTIN.
posted by ooga_booga at 2:54 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by ooga_booga at 2:54 PM on January 18, 2008
Just wait until they have a 3D api. The real world will seem like the real world.
posted by srboisvert at 2:55 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by srboisvert at 2:55 PM on January 18, 2008
This is a vast improvement over my monocle with crosshairs, which frequently spooks my victims.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:56 PM on January 18, 2008 [5 favorites]
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 2:56 PM on January 18, 2008 [5 favorites]
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
posted by Sticherbeast at 3:08 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by Sticherbeast at 3:08 PM on January 18, 2008
Just wait until they have a 3D api. The real world will seem like the real world.
(include autorelease joke here)
posted by secret about box at 3:11 PM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]
NSImage *tits = [[bionicEye sharedEye] imageWithXrayOfArea:[hotRedhead bodyPartsInRect:[[hotRedhead chest] bounds]]];(include autorelease joke here)
posted by secret about box at 3:11 PM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]
I champion any product that could, even way in the future, get rid of asshats who think their bluetooth earpiece is jewelery
posted by hexxed at 3:15 PM on January 18, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by hexxed at 3:15 PM on January 18, 2008 [2 favorites]
Our kids won't be able to believe that anyone ever lived without them.
posted by gurple at 3:20 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by gurple at 3:20 PM on January 18, 2008
Why, Slashdot, you've turned blue!
posted by nzero at 3:22 PM on January 18, 2008 [2 favorites]
posted by nzero at 3:22 PM on January 18, 2008 [2 favorites]
I don't see how it could be in focus. Even if it can display images, wouldn't they be totally blurry?
I have a significant scratch on one of my corneas. I can't tell you which, because it doesn't affect my vision in the slightest and I don't remember. Optometrists comment on it every time I go in for glasses, but I can't see any indication of it myself.
This display would be at the same focal range, which should make it useless.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:25 PM on January 18, 2008
I have a significant scratch on one of my corneas. I can't tell you which, because it doesn't affect my vision in the slightest and I don't remember. Optometrists comment on it every time I go in for glasses, but I can't see any indication of it myself.
This display would be at the same focal range, which should make it useless.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:25 PM on January 18, 2008
(Future office scene)
Boss: Johnson! Are you paying attention to the presentation?
Johnson: No, sorry sir. I can't see anything through all the porn pop-up ads I'm getting at the moment.
posted by Parannoyed at 3:26 PM on January 18, 2008
Boss: Johnson! Are you paying attention to the presentation?
Johnson: No, sorry sir. I can't see anything through all the porn pop-up ads I'm getting at the moment.
posted by Parannoyed at 3:26 PM on January 18, 2008
OK, maybe grandkids.
Damn you kids! Stop playing your FPS on my RTS lawn!
posted by thecaddy at 3:27 PM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]
Damn you kids! Stop playing your FPS on my RTS lawn!
posted by thecaddy at 3:27 PM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]
I champion any product that could, even way in the future, get rid of asshats who think their bluetooth earpiece is jewelery
aint that the truth. god forbid you're not hands free while shopping for baked beans.
posted by Frasermoo at 3:27 PM on January 18, 2008
aint that the truth. god forbid you're not hands free while shopping for baked beans.
posted by Frasermoo at 3:27 PM on January 18, 2008
awesome.
Can i get a pair with Billboard AdBlocker Plus installed?
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 3:29 PM on January 18, 2008
Can i get a pair with Billboard AdBlocker Plus installed?
posted by TechnoLustLuddite at 3:29 PM on January 18, 2008
There you go again. You should have left it at "I don't see how."
My optometrist when I was a kid said that roughly speaking (digging through memory; optometrists correct me if I'm remembering incorrectly) your eyes will generally correct for minor scratches. To that I would add that the actual size & location of the scratch, and how it occludes or refracts light, would probably also have an effect on whether or not it's visible.
But that's just a guess.
More to the point, knowing how the eye focuses would probably mean that the image fed to the lens is highly distorted in some way, to allow for proper focus.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:30 PM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]
My optometrist when I was a kid said that roughly speaking (digging through memory; optometrists correct me if I'm remembering incorrectly) your eyes will generally correct for minor scratches. To that I would add that the actual size & location of the scratch, and how it occludes or refracts light, would probably also have an effect on whether or not it's visible.
But that's just a guess.
More to the point, knowing how the eye focuses would probably mean that the image fed to the lens is highly distorted in some way, to allow for proper focus.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:30 PM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]
This is the cover of a bad science fiction novel.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:31 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by doctor_negative at 3:31 PM on January 18, 2008
No firewire either. Can't watch movies.
You can stick the firewire up your ass if you want to watch a movie.
posted by Skygazer at 3:32 PM on January 18, 2008
You can stick the firewire up your ass if you want to watch a movie.
posted by Skygazer at 3:32 PM on January 18, 2008
SCDB, I feel the same way about my camera's viewfinder. How could something that's only half a cm away from my eye ever present a focused image?
posted by 0xFCAF at 3:32 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by 0xFCAF at 3:32 PM on January 18, 2008
Aw, poopy. 0xFCAF deflated SCDB's pomposity better than I did.
Kudos, 0xFCAF, kudos.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:33 PM on January 18, 2008
Kudos, 0xFCAF, kudos.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:33 PM on January 18, 2008
This is the cover of a bad science fiction novel.
Whatever pal. I would NOT F*CK with that rabbit.
posted by Skygazer at 3:33 PM on January 18, 2008
Whatever pal. I would NOT F*CK with that rabbit.
posted by Skygazer at 3:33 PM on January 18, 2008
How could something that's only half a cm away from my eye ever present a focused image?
It has lenses which compensate. But if a contact lense did that, which would be tough, then you'd see the display but you wouldn't see anything else.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:35 PM on January 18, 2008
It has lenses which compensate. But if a contact lense did that, which would be tough, then you'd see the display but you wouldn't see anything else.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 3:35 PM on January 18, 2008
Yeah, sure - I rolled my eyes at first, too. Then my contacts got stuck behind my eye, sucked back into my sinus cavity, and short-circited my cochlear implants. Now I'm a synesthetic cyborg techno god! I can see the music! I can see the music! I can hear the sunset weeping! I have seen the ghost in the machine, and it is... funktastic!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:36 PM on January 18, 2008 [3 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:36 PM on January 18, 2008 [3 favorites]
That is all. [more inside]
Now wait a minute.
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:36 PM on January 18, 2008 [5 favorites]
Now wait a minute.
posted by nebulawindphone at 3:36 PM on January 18, 2008 [5 favorites]
This and more coming to a LensCrafters near you from P/Virtions©
posted by not_on_display at 3:53 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by not_on_display at 3:53 PM on January 18, 2008
Haven't we already figured out how to make electrically conductive and light emitting plastic (OLEDs) that can be printed right onto transparent sheets already?
It sounds like what they've accomplished is putting metal circuits and 'traditional' LEDs on a piece of plastic in the shape of a contact, but I don't think what they accomplished couldn't have been done with all plastic technology, it's just that why bother? Their display is just 8x8 pixels, and it would be totally blurry and out of focus if you tried to look through it. So why would anyone bother making one?
Anyway, maybe this is an impressive breakthrough in self-assembly, but I don't think the 'bionic eyes' aspect of this is all that impressive.
posted by delmoi at 3:58 PM on January 18, 2008
It sounds like what they've accomplished is putting metal circuits and 'traditional' LEDs on a piece of plastic in the shape of a contact, but I don't think what they accomplished couldn't have been done with all plastic technology, it's just that why bother? Their display is just 8x8 pixels, and it would be totally blurry and out of focus if you tried to look through it. So why would anyone bother making one?
Anyway, maybe this is an impressive breakthrough in self-assembly, but I don't think the 'bionic eyes' aspect of this is all that impressive.
posted by delmoi at 3:58 PM on January 18, 2008
How could something that's only half a cm away from my eye ever present a focused image?
It has lenses which compensate. But if a contact lense did that, which would be tough, then you'd see the display but you wouldn't see anything else.
Hold a paper clip up half a cm front of your eye. It's just a blur.
The camera viewfinder example is wrong, the eye is looking through the viewfinder at a more distant image. See the lower diagram here. THat's like saying your eyeglasses are right in front of your eye and you can see the image through them.
Since these contacts have LED lights, it could be used to superimpose a fuzzy blob of light in your field of vision. That's about all.
posted by jjj606 at 4:01 PM on January 18, 2008
It has lenses which compensate. But if a contact lense did that, which would be tough, then you'd see the display but you wouldn't see anything else.
Hold a paper clip up half a cm front of your eye. It's just a blur.
The camera viewfinder example is wrong, the eye is looking through the viewfinder at a more distant image. See the lower diagram here. THat's like saying your eyeglasses are right in front of your eye and you can see the image through them.
Since these contacts have LED lights, it could be used to superimpose a fuzzy blob of light in your field of vision. That's about all.
posted by jjj606 at 4:01 PM on January 18, 2008
There's nothing magic about subject distance. You can replicate the same apparent focal distance by just casting the light rays in the right direction. We have the technology.
posted by 0xFCAF at 4:13 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by 0xFCAF at 4:13 PM on January 18, 2008
Can i get a pair with Billboard AdBlocker Plus installed?
They Live?
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 4:23 PM on January 18, 2008
They Live?
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 4:23 PM on January 18, 2008
Think of the possibilities for the hearing impaired. Even a 4 bit device would allow you to signal 16 alert states (without getting fancy with flashing) such as door bell, telephone, oven timer, dog barking, sirens, etc.
posted by Mitheral at 6:04 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by Mitheral at 6:04 PM on January 18, 2008
I won't be impressed until I can put it on my retina.
*Snorts derisively, reaches up to fiddle with his cochlear implant.*
posted by spaceman_spiff at 8:00 PM on January 18, 2008
*Snorts derisively, reaches up to fiddle with his cochlear implant.*
posted by spaceman_spiff at 8:00 PM on January 18, 2008
Will a bionic lens help with my confusion when I read "That is all. [More inside.]"?
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:17 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by Pater Aletheias at 8:17 PM on January 18, 2008
You can replicate the same apparent focal distance by just casting the light rays in the right direction. We have the technology.
No. We have the theory. We don't have the technology yet. That's why we don't have holographic 3D displays yet.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:29 PM on January 18, 2008
No. We have the theory. We don't have the technology yet. That's why we don't have holographic 3D displays yet.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:29 PM on January 18, 2008
Happy, I am, to be living here, in the future.
posted by humannaire at 10:10 PM on January 18, 2008
posted by humannaire at 10:10 PM on January 18, 2008
re: pop-up ads fed to you by merchants you walk past
If you haven't read Feed, by M. T. Anderson, you should.
posted by ancientgower at 5:30 AM on January 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
If you haven't read Feed, by M. T. Anderson, you should.
posted by ancientgower at 5:30 AM on January 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
But will using it ultimately result in being executed by a neo-Confucian justice system?
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:43 AM on January 19, 2008
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:43 AM on January 19, 2008
Yes, focal distance is very important. That's why you project laser light directly onto the retina, as per Microvision. Eliminates the problem entirely.
posted by effugas at 3:30 PM on January 19, 2008
posted by effugas at 3:30 PM on January 19, 2008
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posted by secret about box at 2:37 PM on January 18, 2008 [10 favorites]