Sci-fi contact lenses project the time, weather and more onto your surroundings

An ambitious new company wants to take the most cumbersome part of augmented reality technology and put it directly on your eyeball.

Sci-fi contact lenses that project things onto your surroundings could revolutionise the way you see the world.

The lenses, unveiled by California start-up Mojo Vision, can show you the time, weather forecast, your calendar and more as part of a customisable heads-up display.

Hailed by their creators as a way to “elevate your sight”, the wearable gizmos are still a few years from hitting shelves at your local opticians.

As well as fulfilling the dreams of sci-fi fans, they could one day boost the vision of the visually impaired, or firefighters battling through smoke-filled buildings.

Mojo Vision's contact lenses can project a heads-up display onto your surroundings

“Mojo Lens is a smart contact lens with a built-in display that gives you timely information without interrupting your focus,” Mojo Vision writes on its website.

“By understanding your real-world context, Mojo Lens provides relevant, eyes-up notifications and answers.”

The team at Mojo Vision is made up of industry veterans from the likes of Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.

They’ve been working on Mojo Lens for five years but officially unveiled their idea at the CES 2020 tech conference in Las Vegas last week.

Developers hope to reduce our reliance on our phones, allowing us to check notifications or GPS instructions with the flick of an eye.

Their lenses achieve this using augmented reality tech, which “enhances” your view of the real world with computer-generated graphics.

It all works through a display the size of an ink dot, which Mojo Vision calls the “smallest, densest display ever made”.

“Mojo’s view of the world seamlessly fuses digital information onto the world around us,” the company says.

“The subtlety of Mojo Lens lets you look like yourself wherever the day takes you and displays information only when needed.

“Mojo Lens even understands the activities you’re engaged in so it doesn’t disrupt or distract you.”

The gadgets can show you GPS instructions or restaurant reviews as you explore a new city.

As well as the time or weather, the lenses can show you your heart rate and elevation while you’re out for a run or cycle.

A glance at the night sky will reveal what constellation you’re looking at, while reviews for restaurants or museums will pop up as you walk past them.

It also sounds cutting edge, but the technology isn’t quite ready yet.

Creators Mojo Vision have hailed the gadgets as a new way to 'elevate your sight'.

Mojo Vision used CES 2020 to announce its intentions to dip its toes in the medical sector before releasing the lenses to the wider public.

The company is working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US to get them approved, just like normal contacts.

It’s also secured a partnership with Bay Area-based Vista Centre for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

The hope is that one day the lenses could be prescribed by a doctor for the visually impaired, highlighting nearby objects for people who struggle to see their surroundings.

The smart contact lenses aren’t ready for market at this stage. Picture: AFP

Lenses would be charged via a cleaning case, much like the case used by Apple for its AirPods earphones. The lenses would last about 25 hours between charges.

Mojo Vision has been granted the FDA’s Breakthrough Device Designation, which allows companies to fast-track development of new tech.

The company hopes to have Mojo Lens ready for market sometime this decade. It’s part of a new wave of what Mojo Vision calls “invisible computing”.

“We want to create a technology that lets you be you, lets you look like you, doesn’t change your appearance, it doesn’t make you act weird walking down the street,” Mike Wiemer, co-founder and chief technology officer at Mojo Vision, told Wired.

“It’s very discreet and frankly, substantially, most of the time it doesn’t show you anything.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission