September 22, 2009

Putting the “Eye” in iPhone

by University of Washington

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How’s this for creepy: University of Washington engineers have manufactured some distinctly sci-fi contact lenses with the potential to radically alter the way wearers see the world. So far, the lenses contain a single LED, but the inventors say their brainchild could soon be projecting words, pictures and other information just in front of your iris. This, on the heels of several recent advances in augmented reality, seems like it’s making the tech dreams of futuristic flicks like Iron Man a reality, complete with jet-pack propulsion and fashion that favors the metallic.  

The practical applications abound, but the creepy Terminator factor is still relatively high, especially when you see the pictures. And then there’s the marketing strategy. According to the authors: 

We already see a future in which the humble contact lens becomes a real platform, like the iPhone is today, with lots of developers contributing their ideas and inventions.

Apps for your eye? Heaven forfend!  

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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