MobiHealthNews’ Brian Dolan, who was interviewed recently on MobileBeyond, just wrote an amazing article called “Contact Lens: Future Platform for mHealth.”
Babak Parviz at the University of Washington in Seattle, is working on a contact lens technology that could revolutionize wireless health monitoring.
His contact lenses become biosensors that monitor internal body functions. While the prototype version of the lens is powered by radio waves beaming electricity to a loop antenna embedded in the contact lens, Parviz thinks a mobile phone or solar cells (wireless electricity) could generate power for the lenses.
Here’s a video explaining the technology:
Parviz believes his contact lens development platform could emulate the iPhone’s on a smaller scale. Each lens at present only uses one LED. But he thinks with multiple LED’s embedded in the lens, application developers could write wireless monitoring “apps,” like the iPhone model, expanding the lens’ wireless health monitoring capabilities. Doctors, for example, could monitor their patient’s vital signs or blood sugar levels or blood pressure remotely.
HUD’s (Heads-Up Displays) and Augmented Reality
Parviz’ vision may come from science fiction writer and mathematician Vernor Vinge, who imagines computers in clothing and locational sensors placed elsewhere–a world of text and virtual objects overlaying our view of reality.
HUD’s or heads-up displays, used by fighter and space shuttle pilots, provide a glimpse into a world where our vision is augmented by sensory feedback.
Here’s a video of an F16 pilot’s augmented view of reality in an actual jet flight:
The iCon: Your New Mobile Contact Lens HUD
Imagine in the not-too-distant future…
You’re wearing your iCon RF-embedded mobile contact lenses which are connected to your mobile carrier. You make a video call to your friend in Australia by visualizing her in your brain, causing the iCon and carrier to initiate the call and connect you to your friend who’s also wearing an iCon. Both of you see and hear each other as if you were sitting next to each other.
Driving in your car, wearing your GPS-enabled iCon lenses, you connect to a Google server and to a GPS satellite. You request mapping and directional information by voice which immediately appears on your iCon lenses. While driving, you see an overlay of roads, streets and arrows. A pleasant voice guides you safely and quickly to your destination.
You need cash. As you stand in front of your bank’s ATM machine, an optical device scans your iCon lenses, containing personal financial information stored on a memory chip. After verifying your identity, you communicate by voice with your ATM. “Need $40 cash, pronto.” An ATM voice thanks you and spits out the cash.
Before leaving your doctor’s office, after having a physical, your physician puts two iCon lenses in your eyes to monitor your blood pressure and heart rate wirelessly. You saunter out of the office feeling in control, augmented in an interactive wireless world.
If the proposed iCon isn’t to your liking, you can always try regular contact lenses.
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