Trend Hunter has covered bionic contact lenses before, but now the Pentagon wants in the game:
Today's technology allows soldiers with advanced gear to see digital maps through helmet-mounted monocles and pilots to get information on heads-up displays. But the latest project from DARPA, the Pentagon's blue sky science and technology division, will enable troops to see an info-"augmented" reality all around them, via contact lenses that provide "first-person shooter-type video game" environments.
The agency's Information Processing Techniques Office announced that it's looking for information on "the creation of micro- and nano-scale display technologies for the purpose of creating displays that could be worn as transparent contact lenses."
If this seems too far-fectched or in the far-off future for you, they expect the technology to be ready in "three to five years."
The Pentagon release notes, "A limiting factor to un-tethered augmented and/or mixed reality applications is the bulkiness, power consumption, cost, limited resolution, and limited field of view of head-mounted displays. DARPA seeks to leap beyond incremental, evolutionary enhancement of head-mounted display technologies to a see-through contact lens on which images can be displayed. This information might be command-and-control information, not unlike information provided to players of first-person, shooter-type video games or synthetic entities and effects in a live training environment."
Pentagon Wants To Pimp Soldiers Eyes
'Videogame' Style Contact Lenses
Trend Themes
1. Microtechnology-display Augmented Reality - Developing microtechnology display to be worn as transparent contact lenses that would offer an augmented reality, can be a leading technology for a new wave of immersive entertainment and also a game-changing head-up display in several industries such as aviation or automotive.
2. Bionic Contact Lenses - Creating bionic contact lenses that can provide heads-up display or direct output from micro-sensors can revolutionize prosthesis fields and wearable health-tech.
3. First-person Shooter-type Game Environment - Developing technology that provides an augmented reality resembling the environment of a first-person shooter-type game, could have game-changing implications for military training and simulation industries.
Industry Implications
1. Military - The use of see-through contact lenses could change the landscape of military training and simulation.
2. Health Technology - People with weak sight can use bionic lenses to support eye health by providing direct output from micro-sensors embedded in the lens.
3. Gaming - The development of first-person shooter-type game environment through contact lenses could launch a new wave of immersive gaming, offering consumers experiences beyond the capability of traditional consoles or VR headsets.