Boon and Bane of Smart Contact Lenses in Upcoming Generation

Riya Chatterjee B.Optom

NSHM Knowledge Campus – Durgapur, India

 

Imagine a world where smart contact lenses are a part of our everyday lives. These small inventions, equipped with advanced technology, present a new era of convenience and possibilities. Waking up with lenses provides daily updates, weather forecasts, and a cheerful start to our day. Throughout the adventures these lenses become our personal assistants, helping with tasks, and guiding us through unfamiliar places. They enhance our learning experiences, simplify work tasks, and even assist with health reminders. On the other hand, see, there is the risk of unintentional recordings and privacy concerns where personal moments may be shared unknowingly and that leads to bad consequences and trust issues.

What are Smart Contact Lenses?

Smart contact lenses are a revolutionary technology that combines the functionality of traditional contact lenses with the capabilities of ultramodern electronic devices. These lenses offer a range of features that go for beyond traditional corrective lenses, including covering health criteria, tracking fitness data, and indeed displaying enhanced reality images directly in front of the user eyes. ⁽¹⁾

Figure 1: Picture Of Smart Contact Lenses
_{[Picture Courtesy: https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/smart-contact-lens_72367677.htm]}

Here are some of the recent updates on smart contact lenses I would like to mention:

• Researchers have developed prototypes of smart contact lenses that can gradually deliver medicines directly onto the eye. ⁽²⁾
• In 2023, researchers at the university of California, Berkeley developed a smart contact lens that can monitor health metrics like glucose levels in tears for individual with diabetes. ⁽²⁾
• In 2022, Google stated that they are designing a smart contact lens that can instantly translate languages. ⁽²⁾
• For those interested in smart contact lenses, Sensimed Triggerfish is the only option which monitors eye pressure for a whole day. ⁽²⁾
• Samsung shared an important update in 2021: a smart contact lens that follows our eye movements to help control things and explore virtual⁽²⁾

Examples of Smart Contact Lenses:

There are many different types of smart contact lenses currently in development. Some of the most promising examples include:

• Mojo Lens: This lens is being developed by Mojo Vision and is designed to provide augmented reality (AR) capabilities. It has a tiny display that projects images directly onto the wearer’s retina.⁽²⁾
• Google Lens: This lens is being developed by Google and is designed to translate languages in real time. It uses a small camera to capture images of text and then translates the text into the wearer’s preferred language. ⁽²⁾

There are many boons of smart contact lenses, but I am going to explain one boon of smart contact lenses with an example elaborately, let’s see a scenario where smart contact lenses bring a good impact on life. ⁽¹⁾

Imagine a person who has diabetes, wearing smart contact lenses which are designed to monitor glucose levels. These advanced lenses analyse tear fluids for glucose concentration, offering a continuous, non-invasive monitoring solution. If the glucose levels fluctuate outside the normal range, the smart lenses could alert the person or transmit data to a connected device. This immediate response helps to monitor their condition more effectively and offers a preventive approach to health management.

So, in this scenario, we can see smart contact lenses contribute to improved health outcomes and provide valuable information for those with specific medical conditions.

Now, I am going to discuss about bane of smart contact with an example elaborately, let’s see a scenario where smart contact lens bring a bad impact on life:

Imagine a situation where a person experiences persistent eye irritation throughout the day due to wearing a smart contact lens. Although it has very specialised technical features, still this discomfort may impact on its benefits and affect our overall comfort and well-being.

Therefore, in this scenario, we can see the drawback of smart contact lenses.

Now, I will briefly summarise the other boons and banes of smart contact lenses:

Boons:

• Smart contact lenses can also be used to track fitness data, such as heart rate, steps taken and other activities
• Vision correction
• Drug delivery
• Environmental monitoring

Banes:

• High cost
• Limited battery life
• Corneal damage: it happens if lenses are worn for a longer period of time
• Comfort issue.

In conclusion, overall smart contact lenses offer many exciting possibilities, they are not without their drawbacks. As with any new technology, it is important to carefully weigh the benefits and risks before deciding whether to use smart contact lenses. ⁽¹⁾

 

References:

1. Damini.Dr.Gopal.R(2023,March 24).Smart contact lenses-Look of the future. https://www.icliniq.com/articles/eye-health/smart-contact-lenses-look-of-the-future
2. Medyaan.(2023,September 20).The Future of Vision: Smart contact lenses. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/future-vision-smart-contact-lenses-medyaan/