Imagine that you are chairing a meeting or speaking at an important conference but instead of looking at your notes on paper, data passes before your eyes, whichever direction you look.
Do not be surprised! Everything is possible in light of the technological developments witnessed in global markets for smart wearable devices.
Here we mean all the gadgets that rely on technology for their performance, from clothes, watches and headphones, to glasses and contact lenses.
It also includes data that is linked to the wearer’s body, such as body temperature and heart rate, using a variety of sensors.
Market growth
These innovations and developments come at a time when the wearable smart device market is expected to grow from $18.08 billion in 2021 to $20.64 billion by the end of this year, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.1 percent.
The market size is expected to reach $31.95 billion in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.5 percent during this period, Business Wire recently reported.
The global market for smart contact lenses in particular is expected to reach more than $1.6 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 38.9 percent, according to the Fortune Business Insights platform.
Smart lenses
In a new development in the lens market, Mojo Vision is about to begin a comprehensive human trial of a smart contact lens that will give wearers a vertical display that appears to float before their eyes.
According to the information, the product’s rigid lens (a larger lens that extends into the white of the eye) corrects the user’s vision, but it also contains a small “microLED” screen, smart sensors and solid batteries.
“We’ve built what we’re calling a fully functional, wearable prototype and will soon be testing that in-house, to make performance and power improvements,” company spokesman Steve Sinclair says.
“We will be wearing these lenses for longer periods of time to prove that we can wear them all day,” he told the BBC.
Challenges and obstacles
Despite all the technological advancements that the smart lens sector is witnessing, there are still some obstacles it faces.
Perhaps the most prominent of these challenges is to supply these lenses with power through batteries, which must be small, but at the same time able to provide enough power to carry out their required tasks.
Mojo Vision is still testing its product, working so that customers can wear these lenses all day, without having to recharge them.
Therefore, the company expects that the user will not consume information from the lens constantly, but in short moments throughout the day, and therefore the actual life of the battery will depend on how often it is used, just like a smartphone or smartwatch.
In addition, there are concerns about privacy and data security breaches for people who wear lenses that can be compromised in various ways.
Medical sector
The development of smart contact lenses is not limited to this, as they have entered the medical sector which is developing lenses capable of diagnosing and treating eye diseases, diabetes and cancer.
But how? The answer is simple, these lenses have the ability to closely monitor the intraocular pressure or blood glucose level of diabetic patients.
They do this by tracking certain biomarkers, such as levels of light, molecules linked to cancer, or the amount of glucose in tears.
In this context, a scientific team from the University of Surrey created a smart contact lens that contains a photodetector to receive visual information, a temperature sensor to diagnose possible corneal disease, and a glucose sensor that monitors glucose levels in the tear fluid.
The lens is very flat, with a very thin retina layer, where the sensor layer is placed directly on the contact lens so that it comes in direct contact with the eye and is in contact with the tear solution.
