Forget smart glasses: Samsung’s Smart Contact Lens

Apr 08, 2016

A patent application reveals that Samsung might be working to launch smart contact lens in the future

The Verge reports that Samsung might be working on the smart contact lens concept that projects the images directly into the user’s eye and captures pictures. According to SamMobile, the tech giant has filed a patent in South Korea in 2014 that details how the company plans to offer an augmented reality view to its users through the smart contact lens.

The patent application reveals that the smart contact lens will be connected to the user’s smartphone. In addition, the lens will be embedded with small display, RF antenna, camera, and a motion sensor to detect the movement of the user’s eye. It is not clear at the moment if the patent has been granted or if the South Korean tech giant plans to incorporate the technology into other products as well.

Interestingly, the smart contact lens is not a new concept. Researchers have managed to create a prototype smart lens before; however, these smart lenses offered a very limited amount of pixels resulting in a low-quality display.

Meanwhile, Google is also working on smart contact lenses, but the South Korean tech giant filed the patent two years ago. This means that Samsung has been working on it for quite a while now. However, many tech experts are of the view that Samsung is still working on the smart lens concept, rather than on the actual device. Moreover, Samsung applied for the patent in the same year when Google was awarded a patent in the United States for its smart contacts.

Samsung has already launched VR headsets such as Gear VR, to offer VR experience to its users. However, the company believes that smart contact lens is the way to offer an augmented reality experience. The patent application stresses the need of smart lens because the quality of the image suffers when it is projected via glasses. In addition, the company mentions “Google Glass” by name in its patent application when referring to the need of smart contact lens.

Subsequently, the patent application indicates that Samsung is gearing up to offer augmented reality content to its users. Augmented Reality differs from Virtual Reality in a way that it allows users to see the world and projected image both at the same time. However, virtual reality enables its users to see only the displayed image.

Several reports claim that Samsung will name its smart contact lens, Gear Blink, because the company had filed the trademark both in the US and South Korea in 2014. However, it is worth noting that Samsung filing the patent doesn’t mean that the device will actually see the light of day. It takes a lot of investment and research to bring a device to market and it might be possible that the company will lose its focus over time. Therefore, we will not be surprised if Samsung does not launch this device in the future.

Source: Tech News Today