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Verily shelves its glucose-monitoring contact lens project
In 2014, Verily, Alphabet's life sciences subsidiary, teamed up with Alcon to develop a contact lens that could measure glucose levels in tears. The idea being that diabetics would have an easier, less invasive way of keeping track of their glucose levels. But the companies have now decided to shelve that project, as their work has shown that it's actually quite difficult to obtain consistently accurate measurements of glucose from tears.
Glucose-tracking smart contact lens is comfortable enough to wear
The concept of a smart contact lens has been around for a while. To date, though, they haven't been all that comfortable: they tend to have electronics built into hard substrates that make for a lens which can distort your vision, break down and otherwise cause discomfort. A team of Korean scientists might just come to the rescue. They've developed a smart lens that could help diabetics track blood glucose levels while remaining stretchable enough to be comfortable and transparent enough to preserve vision.
Alphabet's autofocusing contact lens won't be tested in 2016
Bad news if you were hoping that Google's (now Alphabet's) smart contact lenses would be available relatively soon: they're running into some hurdles. Novartis, which is partnering with Alphabet's Verily Life Sciences on an autofocusing lens that addresses farsightedness, says it won't make its goal of testing the technology in 2016. It's "too early to say" when trials would start, a spokeswoman explains to Reuters. It's also uncertain when tests for the other lens, which monitors blood sugar levels, would likely begin.
The power of tears: Why Google has its eye on smart contact lenses
When the cronut craze swept across New York in early spring of last year, the only major inconvenience associated with Dominique Ansel's novel culinary confection was the pain of waiting in line to get it. For a responsible person living with Type 1 (or Type 2) diabetes, like my good friend Cara, that wait time for a hip baked good would've been compounded by a few more irritating factors. First, there'd be a necessary finger prick test (administered in the open by an always on-hand glucometer) to measure blood sugar levels an hour before eating. Then, a guesstimate would need to be calculated of just how many carbs that precious SoHo sweet contained, followed by an adjustment of insulin delivery levels on a waist-worn pump. And, finally, a follow-up finger prick test would need to be done two hours after eating the cronut to once again establish a necessary insulin base line. That is true inconvenience. That is life with diabetes. And as you might imagine, not all diabetics are this disciplined. But Google wants to change that... with contact lenses.
Google's new wearable project is a smart contact lens with medical uses
Google loves wearables and this time it's getting even closer to your body with a developmental smart contact lens. Through miniaturized electronics, it can apparently measure the levels of glucose in your tears, offering diabetics an easier way to monitor their condition without the needles and the blood -- something we've reported on before. A tiny (really tiny) wireless chip and glucose sensor are wedged between two layers of "biocompatible" contact lens material, and Google is saying that it's already working on embedding tiny LED lights for notifications, too. There's been no shortage of developmental contact lens tech over the last few years, but the clout of Google means this could well be the most realistic mainstream offering, in addition to its very practical use cases. Google is currently angling for partners with more expertise in the medical market to help make it happen and is "in discussions with the FDA" to ensure the tech ticks all the right healthcare boxes before it progresses further. Recode's got a deep dive on the make-up of the smart contact: we've added their science textbook-grade diagram right after the break.
Scientists build soft, transparent contact lens displays with nanomaterials
Of the contact lens display prototypes that we've seen so far, few if any are focused on comfort -- a slight problem when they're meant to sit on our eyeballs. A collaboration between Samsung and multiple universities may solve this with display tech that's meant to be cozy from the start. By putting silver nanowires between graphene layers, researchers have created transparent conductors that can drive LEDs while remaining flexible enough to sit on a contact lens. Current test lenses only have one pixel, but they're so soft that rabbits can wear them for five hours without strain. Scientists also see the seemingly inevitable, Glass-like wearable display as just one development path -- they're working on biosensors and active vision correction. While there's still a long way to go before we reach a cyberpunk future of near-invisible displays, we may finally have some of the groundwork in place.
Researchers devise contact lens with built-in LCD (video)
Another day, another step towards technologically tricked out contact lenses. The latest development comes from researchers at the Centre of Microsystems Technology at Ghent University, who've developed a prototype lens with an embedded, spherical curved LCD that isn't limited to a paltry amount of pixels. As opposed to LED-based solutions which could only muster a few pixels, the newly-developed screen can pack enough to display graphics that cover a contact. In its current form, the display can show simple patterns, and demonstrates the technology with a simple dollar sign. What appears on the lens wouldn't be visible to folks who wear it, however, since eyes can't focus at such a close range. Despite the limitation, researchers are trying to tackle the focusing issue and are assessing the feasibility of a version that would effectively act as a heads-up display. In the future, the tech could be leveraged for medical purposes, such as controlling light transmission to the retina when the iris is damaged, cosmetic uses and -- you guessed it -- HUDs. With the technology's foundation established, it's expected that real-world applications are potentially a few of years away. Hit the jump to catch a video of the tech in action.
DARPA realizes it needs contact lenses, opts for those nice AR tinted ones (video)
DARPA saw the battlefield potential in AR glasses ages ago, when even Sergey Brin was happy to wear regular Ray-Bans. It's now stepped up its investment, giving more cash to one of its research contractors -- a company called Innovega -- to produce prototype contact lenses that could make military wearable HUDs smaller and less conspicuous. Innovega's iOptik lenses don't actually include a display, but rather allow the human eye to focus on an image from a separate accessory that sits right up close to the eyeball. The lenses have different zones that give the wearer multiple areas of focus, so they can see the overlaid augmented reality HUD -- such as a feed from an overhead drone -- but also warlike events going on in the immediate environment. Judging from the video after the break, however, calling them plain 'bifocals' might be taboo.
Scientists testing HUD contact lenses on rabbits, hope to bring augmented reality to your eyeballs
Scientists at Washington University are a step closer to bringing us all some sweet information displaying contact lenses. The team has been successfully testing prototype lenses on rabbits -- though there are some major caveats here. First, due to limits of circuitry, they can only display a single light-emitting diode at a time. Also, the scientists have yet to figure out a workable energy source -- at present, they need to be within centimeters of a wireless battery. The researchers have big plans, however, including the display of holographic images -- and, no doubt, information about which targets to destroy.
Inhabitat's Week In Green: 3D printed veins, solar cell towers, and the Ingocar
At Inhabitat we've seen 3D printers that create entire buildings out of stone and complete meals out of simple ingredients, but this week we watched in awe as scientists used a 3D printer to create the world's first "printed" human vein. And if advances in biotech get your blood flowing, you'll be excited to hear that this week a team of researchers successfully tested a new type of nanobot that travels through the bloodstream to turn off tumor cells. Contact lenses are also getting a much needed upgrade as scientists unveiled a new type capable of fighting glaucoma and other diseases by dispensing a powerful dose of medication. In other news, solar energy is lighting up the world at large as India gears up to power all of its cellphone towers with photovoltaic cells, saving 5 million tons of CO2 and $1.4 billion annually. And speaking of silicon cells, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently unveiled its latest creation: a super robot capable of assembling an entire photovoltaic cell in 35 minutes flat. We also looked at a prototype of a prismatic solar balloon that uses a colorful new type of solar cell to soak up the sun's energy from high in the sky. Finally, this week we took an in-depth look at the Ingocar, a hydraulic hybrid drive vehicle so light and efficient that it promises a mileage of 170MPG. This next-gen vehicle uses hydraulic fluid under pressure to accelerate, brake, and eliminate the need for a heavy mechanical drive train, making it 50% lighter than hybrid electric vehicles. And if you've ever experienced the maddening anxiety of circling for a parking spot on crammed city streets, relax - there's an app for that!
Contact lens could offer heads-up display for your cellphone
Some clever geeks souls at the University of Washington have used some pretty serious tech to allow themselves to make a flexible and safe -- don't they always tell us that? -- contact lens with a built-in circuit and lights. Uses for it are all right out of a James Bond film, seeing a caller-id pop up as if floating in mid air, web browsing, and of course its application could extend to cars, gaming, and just about anything you can dream up that uses a display. No word on what type of communication gear they could use, but hopefully security will be top notch as having somebody hack your eyes as you're out and about would be a pain.
Researchers put circuits on contact lenses, freak out rabbits
We've seen plenty of newfangled contact lenses in the past, but it looks like a team of researchers at the University of Washington may have outdone them all, with their latest creation promising not only heads-up displays, but "superhuman vision." That's apparently possible thanks to a combination of lights and circuits, which they've managed to cram onto lens no larger than your average contact -- though it doesn't even do so much as light up in its current state (that's promises "soon"). Naturally, the researchers have tested the lenses on rabbits instead of themselves, which they say have shown "no adverse effects" after wearing the lenses for upwards of 20 minutes, although we'll just have to wait and see if they feel the same way after the researchers flip the switch on 'em. [Via Futurismic]
Navy developing magnetic contact lenses
It looks like the Navy's Office of Naval Research dipping its toes into the oft-explored business of eye-tracking, with a recent patent application revealing plans for some magnetic contact lenses designed to aid fighter pilots and others in need of a hands-free control option. According to NewScientist, the system consists of a magnetic sensor that's attached to side of an individual's head, which picks up changes in the magnetic field caused by the wearer's contact lenses -- those then get sorted out to determine exactly how the person's eyes are moving. As NewScientist points out, one of the big advantages of this system (as opposed to other methods of eye-tracking) is that it can work regardless of the person's head orientation, lighting conditions, or anything blocking the person's eyes, such as goggles or glasses, hence its appeal for fighter pilots. Lets just hope things don't go too haywire when one of the contacts falls out.
Discovery Channel discusses the HD effect
Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble has posted about the MSN Strategic Account Summit where besides hobnobbing with Bill Gates & Jay-Z, he had a conversation with a Discovery Channel exec confirming what we all pretty much know already. The Discovery Channel has some great high definition stuff, and HDTV owners will watch anything, even ads, in HD. The network knows all this and is promoting high definition advertisements so hopefully we'll see less 4x3 breaks in the action.Also on that note I saw an ad last night again using high definition for a non-television product, this time contact lenses. It wouldn't be so bad since it could be related to enhanced resolution except that the ad itself was in SD.[Via HD for Indies]
