Could these smart contact lenses replace your phone?

In the not too distant future, this contact lens tech from Mojo Vision would float information and images in front of your eyes

Hero image in post
photo: The Matrix Resurrections
Hero image in post
photo: The Matrix Resurrections

In the not too distant future, this contact lens tech from Mojo Vision would float information and images in front of your eyes

By Patrick Heardman24 May 2022
3 mins read time
3 mins read time

Imagine, you’re walking to the big supermarket to do your weekly shop, and, without needing to reach for your phone, your entire shopping list conveniently scrolls down in the corner of your line of sight, letting you shop with ease. Or you’re at the airport waiting for your flight, with no need to drag your luggage across the floor to get a view of the departure board, because your flight and gate number automatically stream into your vision, leaving you to enjoy your departures lounge Burger King leisurely.

These are just two potential uses for smart lenses, contacts that not only correct the user's vision, but also incorporate heads up displays that float directly in front of their eyes displaying any kind of useful information.

“Imagine... you're a musician with your lyrics, or your chords, in front of your eyes. Or you're an athlete and you have your biometrics and your distance and other information that you need,” says Steve Sinclair who works for Mojo, a technology company working on a “revolutionary” smart lens.

The ‘Mojo Lens’ has a tiny microLED display “the size of a grain of sand” as well as “smart sensors powered by solid-state batteries.”

The company’s website claims that its smart lens “quietly provides you with crucial data while you’re engaged in events that demand your attention. You can see trails on a ski slope, your pace for your last mile of a run, or talking points for a presentation, all without holding a device or looking down at a screen. With its invisible, wearable display, Mojo Lens helps you keep your concentration by providing information heads-up and hands-free.”

The lenses are still in development, however, and are not yet available to the public, but the company is about to embark on comprehensive testing of smart lenses on living people, the next step in taking the technology to the market.

Perhaps more impressively, other smart lenses are in development that have the capability to monitor user’s health and help to prevent disease.

According to the BBC, “research is underway to build lenses that can diagnose and treat medical conditions from eye conditions, to diabetes, or even cancer by tracking certain biomarkers such as light levels, cancer-related molecules or the amount of glucose in tears.”

Lenses could even provide “extended-release drug-delivery options, which is beneficial in diagnosis and treatment plans,” says Rebecca Rojas, instructor of optometric science at Columbia University. “It's exciting to see how far technology has come, and the potential it offers to improve patients' lives.”

Read more about Mojo’s smart lens here.