The way we capture photographs could be radically different in the future, if Samsung’s recently granted patent is any indication. The South Korean company’s patent filings reveal plans for “smart” contact lenses that could display images directly onto the user’s eyes and capture photos literally with the blink of an eye.
The Samsung patent appears to be geared toward a more immersive and less cumbersome virtual reality experience than the current offering of headset devices. The contacts would reportedly be equipped with built-in antennas to connect to a nearby device (such as a smartphone or tablet).
In a lengthy report, TechNewsReport detailed aspects of the design still being tailored toward consumers, like making such a contact lens comfortable for the wearer. (Contact lenses are typically 50 percent water in order to stay moist, the article notes.) Still, one researcher interviewed theorized that the applications for smart contact lenses “are almost limitless.”
Samsung isn’t alone in the endeavor, however. In fact, Google first filed a smart contact lens patent back in 2014, although their plans appeared to gear more toward health monitoring than virtual reality or photography applications. On particular application of Google’s lenses would be to monitor blood glucose levels of diabetic patients, for example. Researchers christened the technology formally as “Ophthalmic Electrochemical Sensors,” but you and I can just refer to them as “really fancy contacts.”
Countless futuristic patents have been filed by major tech companies only to never materialize for consumers, so don’t get your wallets out just yet. Still, the patent could signal a day when VR technology becomes truly immersive, and when snapping a photograph becomes as natural as a wink.
