Contact lenses that beam images straight into your eyes could soon be a reality after Samsung was granted a patent for the technology in the U.S.
The contacts come with a hidden camera that will be able to record video and take pictures, according to Patently Mobile.
The lenses will also feature motion sensors, meaning different eye movements – such as blinking, or looking up – could trigger various actions.
According to the patent, filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the device may receive orders through an in-built antenna.
Compared to the much-maligned Google Glasses, the contact lenses are designed for augmented reality (AR).
With the Google Glass, if your glasses slipped, or you looked above or below the frame, the AR would fail. With contact lenses, AR cannot escape your line of sight.
Viktor Prokopenya, the founder of AR platform Banuba, said of the development: ‘Lenses and glasses are the future of AR, we’re at a time now where the software is available and we are waiting for the hardware to catch up.
Samsung achieving a patent for Augmented Reality contact lenses is a significant milestone in the technology’s development, paving the way for mass consumer adoption in the future, which is incredibly exciting.
‘This development will create incredible opportunities in computing, maps and entertainment, all of which will have a transformative effect on our everyday lives.’
Augmented reality is used by a number of companies already, including Snapchat, who use it for filters, and the game Pokemon Go.
The lenses will also feature motion sensors, meaning different eye movements – such as blinking, or looking up – could trigger various actions
Compared to the much-maligned Google Glasses, the contact lenses are designed for augmented reality (file photo)
Mr Prokopenya added: ‘Many mobile AR apps of the future are able to be run on mobile phones today – like snapchat, pokemon go and others – but as devices become far more intuitive, they will integrate more smoothly into our lives.
‘There is zero doubt that exciting and transformative change is afoot and, eventually, physical devices as we know them will disappear altogether.’
Samsung’s patent was filed in March 2015, and was granted last month.
It is not known when the contact lenses could hit the market, or if the company are still developing them.
