When you have excellent, old-fashioned emotions, who needs an external battery?
Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore (NTU Singapore) have started developing augmented reality (AR) contact lenses that can project digital data onto physical objects.
The group has started working on a flexible battery that will be about as thin as the human cornea. When an ultra-thin battery comes into touch with a saline source, such as that found in tears, it may store power. For every 12-hour cycle, this method, according to researchers, can increase battery life by up to four hours.
Induction charging, a different method of powering lenses, requires a coil to be within the lens in order to send electricity, much like a wireless charging station for a smartphone. Our tear-based battery avoids the two possible issues that these two approaches might bring up while also making room for more advancements in the design of smart contact lenses.
The team, according to the university, has already submitted a patent application through NTUitive with the goal of eventually commercializing the smart contacts.
