The future is full of fun new gadgets such as an augmented reality contact lens, with a non-obstructive display, showing useful information in their field of view like smart glasses do. Mojo Vision is the company bringing this great idea to life! The company is confident that the smart contacts will be landing in the purview of optometrists so anyone can get their microdisplay-laden lenses within the decade.
The display squeezes 70,000 pixels into a space that’s not much bigger than a grain of sand, less than half a millimeter across. It is the centerpiece of the Mojo augmented reality contact lens and positioned directly in front of the pupil. This deliberate positioning allows the lens to project and focus light in a specific location at the back of the retina. The light is mainlined to the portion of the retina that can see it best, and since there are so many photoreceptors there the display needs less light and, therefore, less power to transmit images.
Fast Company explains the ocular science behind how Mojo’s displays work:
The display focuses its light on a tiny indented area of the retina at the back of the eye called the fovea, which we use to detect the fine details of objects right in front of us. This little indention takes up only about 4% to 5% of the area of the retina, but it contains the vast majority of its nerve endings. It’s thick with photoreceptors that convert light into electrochemical signals, which are then transferred through the optical nerve to various vision centers in the brain. Moving outward from the fovea, the number and density of these photoreceptors decrease rapidly and steadily. We use these lower resolution areas of the retina for our peripheral vision.
For now, the display appears only in monochrome green. Nevertheless, it’s an incredible achievement! Aside from the display, the lens will also contain a few supporting microcomponents, such as an image sensor and a tiny single-core ARM-based processor. Eventually, they’ll also incorporate a communications chip and eye-tracking sensor into the lens.
The device will be powered by a miniature solid-state battery so that it can work all day long, being charged via wireless conduction. The lens will rely on internet connection provided by an external device, such as a smartphone, for sending and receiving data.
The company still has a long way to go down the path to FDA-approval, however. It hasn’t even started clinical trials yet. When the smart contacts do become available to consumers, it will be as a medical device first. The lenses will display text, track eye motion, sense objects, and help people see in the dark to some degree. It will be designed to facilitate those with degenerative eye diseases.
Mojo’s VP of medical devices, Ashley Tuan, who is also one of the optometrists working at the company, said:
For some people, this could be life-changing. We can give them the essential tools they need for mobility. They just want to feel that they are normal. They don’t want people to feel pity for them or take advantage of them.
Other types of people Mojo envisions using the AR contact lenses include first responders such as firefighters, police officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, rescuers, military personnel and people in the service industries such as hotel concierge.
Only time will tell which companies end up engaging in their own ventures with Mojo’s augmented reality contact lens. Mojo has already snatched up $108 million in venture capital investments from Google’s Gradient Ventures, HP Tech Ventures, Stanford’s StartX fund, Motorola Solutions Venture Capital and LG. That just may be a sign that these lenses will be arriving before you know it.
