Video feed via your contact lens

The digital world is about to get extremely up-close and personal for those who wear the new iOptik contact lens produced by Innovega Inc., Bellevue, Wash. In January, the company announced it intends to accelerate delivery of designs, components and licenses for the technology to selected strategic partners.

Those who wear the contact lens will be able to simultaneously focus on virtual content from the eyewear and on whatever is hapenning in the real-world, according to Innovega's Web site.

"This new iOptik approach leverages the mature technology used by contact lens suppliers and eliminates the usual bulky optics that have previously been required in the design of video eyewear products," the Innovega Web site explains. The microcomponents embedded in the contact lens, which can include the prescription of the wearer, are small enough so they don't interfere with normal vision.

Video and image display light pass through the center of the pupil while light from the surrounding environment passes through the outer portion of the pupil. Each set of light rays produces an image on the retina simultaneously, superimposing them into a single integrated image.

Innovega demonstrates the technology in the video. For a related report, see "Lens could lead to ‘superhuman’ vision."