|
Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
|
Circuit Smart Contact Lens, Presaged By Niven, Barnes and Vinge
Contact lenses with imprinted electronic circuits and lights for augmented reality display vision are under development by University of Washington scientists.
(Contact lens with circuits worn by rabbit)
The UW engineers used microscopic scale manufacturing techniques to create a flexible, biologically safe contact lens with imprinted electronic circuits and lights. If used by human beings, a pair of contact lenses with circuits and lights would be the perfect display for augmented reality systems.
(Contact lens with circuits close-up)
The prototype device contains an electric circuit as well as red light-emitting diodes for a display, though it does not yet light up. The lenses were tested on rabbits for up to 20 minutes and the animals showed no adverse effects.
"Looking through a completed lens, you would see what the display is generating superimposed on the world outside," said Babak Parviz, a UW assistant professor of electrical engineering. "This is a very small step toward that goal, but I think it's extremely promising."
Researchers built the circuits from layers of metal only a few nanometers thick, about one thousandth the width of a human hair, and constructed light-emitting diodes one third of a millimeter across. The researchers hope to power the whole system using a combination of radio-frequency power and solar cells placed on the lens.
Science fiction readers are fortunate to have had this idea presented to them several years ago. In his 2001 novella Fast Times at Fairmont High, sf writer, computer scientist and mathematician Vernor Vinge described a near-future world in which everyone used smart contact lens displays. In his 2006 novel Rainbows End, set in the same milieu, he describes them this way:
Miri... leaned her head forward, and stuck a finger close to her right eye. "You already know about contacts, right? Wanna see one?" Her hand came away from her eye. A tiny disk sat on the tip of her middle finger. It was the size and shape of the contact lenses he had known. He hadn't expected more, but... he bent closed and looked. After a moment, he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it. "I'm driving it at safety max, or you wouldn't see the lights." The tiny lens became hazy, then frosty white. "Uk. It powered down. But you get the idea.."
(Read more about Vinge's smart contact lenses)
The results were presented today at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' international conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems by Harvey Ho, a former graduate student of Parviz's now working at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, Calif. Other co-authors are Ehsan Saeedi and Samuel Kim in the UW's electrical engineering department and Tueng Shen in the UW Medical Center's ophthalmology department.
A full-fledged display won't be available for a while, but a version that has a basic display with just a few pixels could be operational "fairly quickly," according to Parviz.
Update 21-Jan-08: According to Babak Parviz, he and his colleagues got started on this idea in 2004; he hadn't heard about the Vinge story. End update.
Update 22-Jan-08:
I wrote Vernor Vinge and asked him whether or not he was familiar with Parviz' research. He replied that he was not. I asked him how he thought of the idea:
"I think I had these in "Fast Times at Fairmont High" (2001).
Basically I wanted an augmented reality display that wouldn't involve
implants but which would not appear intrusive.
The full-bore invention will be a real challenge: the form factor,
the power supply, the transparency management, the wireless
networking, the very accurate overlay positioning.
However, lightweight head-up displays will probably take off
incrementally (and soon!) and that process should be very fun to track."
I corrected the article and the reference to reflect the earlier time. Note that Vinge also mentioned "I bet there is prior sf'nal art on this!"
End update.
Update 22-Jan-08:
Thanks to diligent and alert readers, I can add to (keep correcting!) the story. In their 1992 collaboration The California Voodoo Game, Larry Niven and Steven Barnes wrote about scleral contact lenses:
To Nigel Bishop, the walls had become blue glass. He saw and evaluated holographic projection equipment, fiber optics, electrical and plumbing, communications...
His eyes no longer resembled human eyes...
"Scleral lenses?" she asked. "You've got DreamTime technology in contact lenses? That's not available to the public!"
(Read more about Niven and Barnes' DreamTime scleral contact lenses)
It seems clear that the scleral contacts describe a display upon which images or data can be viewed, and the images do not appear to be projected from elsewhere upon the surface of the lens.
End update.
Read about other efforts at establishing augmented reality displays:
Via Contact lenses with circuits, lights a possible platform for superhuman vision; thanks to Misja van Laatum for writing in with the tip on the story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 1/17/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.
| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 29 )
Related News Stories -
("
Display
")
DOTPad Braille Device Offers Live Access
Amazing tactile display.
Transparent MicroLED Screen From Samsung
Has Samsung nailed the Look of Things To Come?
Augmented Reality Book Covers Reveal The Inner Book
'The E-paper holograms leaped from lurid covers...' - Greg Bear, 2003.
TCL CSOT 17-Inch Printed OLED Scrolling Display
'..a wide sheet of clear material suddenly flared with light and swirling colour.' - EC Tubb, 1958.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!)
is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for
the Invention Category that interests
you, the Glossary, the Invention
Timeline, or see what's New.
|
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
California Fireman Arrested For Starting Fires
'Fire is bright and fire is clean.'
Robots Need A Better Sense Of Touch
'First, it rubbed my arms...'
MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'
REALLY Remote Control Excavators
'It takes over a second for the signal to get to the Moon...'
Disney Helping Robots Dance
Dance, Robots, Dance.
Kolors Virtual-Try-On Predicted, And TRIED, By Harry Harrison
'Bill blinked at his own face under the plumed helmet...'
Detecting Drones In Ukraine With Candy (Sukork)
'...a robot detector circuit closed, activating a bell."
Nevada Will Use AI To Decide Worker Benefits
'They had screwed up and been blacklisted by Manna.'
Tether Cryptocurrency Flow Rate US$190Bn Per Day
'Alex did not find it surprising that people... were electronically minting their own cash.'
First Trips To Mars Announced By Elon Musk
'I had determined that my first attempt should be a visit to Mars.'
WaPOCHI Micro-Mobility Robot Follows Like A Pet With Your Bags
To follow the user like a pet while carrying their cargo!
Ultra-Realistic Robotic Arowana Robo-Fish
'Deveet unhooked his catch and laid it on the bank beside him. It was a metal fish.'
GITAI R1 Lunar Rover Like NASA Robonaut Centaur
'...waldoes in the screen followed in exact, simultaneous parallelism.'
Meshworm Soft Robot, With Peristaltic Crawling, Is Getting Better
'Seen close it was not completely flexible, but made instead of pivoted and smoothly finished segments.'
Mushroom 'Robot' Is Just A Start
'Some unknown race ... decided to help them out.'
Tesla Electric 'Giga Train' Operational In Germany
'...the cars are wedge-shaped at both ends.'
More SF in the News Stories
More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories
|
|