Technology is a miraculous thing. No one imagined that humans would be able to fly one day. But new inventions are taking place every day. Have you heard of the shoes that can lace themselves or soccer fields that can fit anywhere? Or, if you thought contact lenses are for vision correction or aesthetics only, think again. Here is a contact lens that can record video with a blink and can replay it for you. Sony has patented these blink-and-capture smart contact lenses. Read on to find out more.
Sony acquired a contract for a patent to build smart contact lenses that can record video. Blinking movements will control these smart lenses, and they also have an inbuilt storage unit for easy access to the recordings within the contact lenses. A Tokyo firm has patented these smart contact lenses and listed 7 Japanese scientists as inventors.
Well, Sony has got itself a futuristic contact lens patent. Seven Japanese inventors, namely Sako Yoichiro, Iwasaki Masanori, Hayashi Kazunori, Kon Takayasu, Nakamura Takatoshi, Onuma Tomoya, Tange Akira, have registered the patent which was filed in February 2014. These smart contact lenses can record video and can be controlled by blinking. The blink control phenomenon is based on the fact that involuntary blinks can be differentiated from the voluntary blinks.
The patent claims that: “It is known that a time period of usual blinking is usually 0.2 seconds to 0.4 seconds, and so it can be said that in the case where the time period of blinking exceeds 0.5 seconds, the blinking is conscious blinking,” Also, there are miniscule piezoelectric sensors to detect these eye movements by converting pressure, temperature, and force to electrical energy. Further, users can select deliberate eye movements for actions like playing a video.
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Sony’s smart contact lens design has an array of modern devices including a number of sensors. This includes piezoelectric sensors, infrared sensors, gyroscope, and accelerometer. Also, these smart lenses will be powered by electromagnetic induction.Image source:Â www.google.co.in
This smart contact lens unit comes equipped with electroluminescence display screen for viewing videos and images. The inbuilt video recorder allows the wearer to zoom, autofocus, and even adjust the blurry images. Moreover, it also has exposure and aperture adjustment options available. Also, there is a gyroscope to detect head tilt. Once the tilt is detected, video recording gets realigned itself to get the correct orientation. Besides, these contact lenses are powered by electromagnetic induction in which electric current is produced by the slight movement of a conductor in the magnetic field. Hence, these contact lenses can be used throughout the day.
Accelerometer and infrared sensors are also available in the unit. Inbuilt storage allows the user to access these recordings and images easily within the lens. Although Sony has acquired the patent, these smart contact lenses are still a scientific fantasy. Only time will tell how much Sony succeeds in making them a reality.
