Filed under: Wearables

Far from the first circuit-laden contact lens we’ve laid eyes on (ahem), researchers at UC Davis have more than bragging rights in mind with their “smart” contacts. The devices are infused with a “pattern of conductive silver wires, which could be used to measure pressure inside the eye.” The material, dubbed polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), would boast antimicrobial properties and could enable scientists to better study glaucoma. How so? By sending pressure data to computers sans wires. Better still, the contacts also include the ability to automatically dispense medication into the eye, making this beneficial in more ways than one. The creators are expected to apply for approval to begin testing the lenses in humans here shortly, and barring any unforeseen (sorry, totally unintentional there) setbacks, we would hope these could be put to use within the next few years.

[Via medGadget]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s hard to say what kind of individual seeks out lighting instruments that even look like eyes, let alone lighting instruments with cloned details of their own eyes, but just in case you know one such person, here’s the perfect FYI for ‘em. Paris-based 5.5 designers are offering a service that enables you to send in images of your eyes (along with a very large sum of money, we presume) in order for the craftspeople to construct eyeball lamps with hints of you splashed all over. Sure gives Rockwell’s one and only jam a whole new meaning, yeah?

[Via ShinyShiny]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s hard to say what kind of individual seeks out lighting instruments that even look like eyes, let alone lighting instruments with cloned details of their own eyes, but just in case you know one such person, here’s the perfect FYI for ‘em. Paris-based 5.5 designers are offering a service that enables you to send in images of your eyes (along with a very large sum of money, we presume) in order for the craftspeople to construct eyeball lamps with hints of you splashed all over. Sure gives Rockwell’s one and only jam a whole new meaning, yeah?

[Via ShinyShiny]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Wearables

If you’re scouting the strange, the weird and the weirder, you’ll find plenty to get absorbed in over at the research facilities of NTT DoCoMo. The Japanese giant is at it once more, but this time the invention is actually somewhat down to Earth. It’s mission? To create a method for easily controlling a music interface (on a PMP or cellphone) with just your eyes. By rolling one’s eyes and jerking them from side to side, the outfit is hoping to have the corresponding music player change tracks and get louder / softer. If you’re not exactly keen with freaking out fellow citizens on the street with completely erratic eye movements, you may also appreciate a similar technology it’s working up which can detect a user’s finger tapping to achieve to same goal. Of course, said technology would be halfway useless on the smash hit-packed ZVUE Journey (no way you’re bypassing any of those tracks, son), but we guess you could check out your toes every now and then to keep from constantly staying at 11.

[Via ShinyShiny]

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Filed under: Transportation

Apparently not everyone at General Motors is toiling away in an attempt to get the Volt ready for its 2010 debut, as another sector of the outfit’s R&D division is busy creating a windshield that will, at its core, enable us to stop running stuff over. The futuristic glass would utilize lasers, sensors and cameras in order to help drivers see the road’s edge better, recognize obstructions and enhance things ahead of us so we’ll theoretically react faster. Truth be told, the device is being designed with older drivers in mind, though we don’t see why younger motorists won’t benefit all the same. Unfortunately, it sounds as if you’ll have to keep those toothpicks in your eyelids for a few more years, but at least we’re one step closer to full-on autopilot.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Here’s one straight from the bizarro chapters. Dozens of individuals that attended an all night dance party near Moscow have been “partially blinded after a laser light show burned their retinas,” according to Russian health officials. Apparently someone responsible for erecting the equipment decided to aim a few lights powerful enough to brighten the night sky down at the crowd (after rain necessitated a makeshift roof, we’re told), with some of those who stared too long losing up to “80%” of their vision. We’re not exactly sure what will happen to the promoters of the event, but at least now you have a valid excuse to rock those face-engulfing sunglasses (or a welding mask, if you’re really paranoid) in every night club you waltz into.

[Image courtesy of iGouGo]

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Filed under: Displays

Yeah, we’ve got HMDs for the visually impaired, but seriously, who’s for sporting one of those things just to catch an afternoon soap? Thankfully, Dr. Eli Peli (and colleagues) from Harvard Medical School is lookin’ out for said sect, and has developed a method for “enhancing the contrast of images of people and objects of interest on their digital televisions,” which, during trials, was found to enhance legibility and overall enjoyment when watching. Furthermore, the technology is said to be the first to play nice with digital TV images, which seems fairly important considering that analog signals have but a few months to live here in America. Purportedly, the all-important modification that made the adjustments possible could be applied to HDTVs and digital STBs in the future, and sure enough, Peli has already sparked up conversation with Analog Devices in order to create a prototype chip for use in forthcoming sets. Now, if only clearing up those Get Smart reruns were this simple…

[Via InventorSpot, image courtesy of Harvard (PDF)]

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Filed under: Wearables

While there’s been no shortage of research surrounding the saving of one’s eyesight, the EU-funded CORNEA project has now developed an artificial cornea that is showing promise in trials. Reportedly, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP in Potsdam and the Department of Ophthalmology at the University Hospital of Regensburg have created a device that is “based on a commercially available polymer which absorbs no water and allows no cells to grow on it.” Put simply, the cornea implant can “firmly connect with the natural part of the cornea, while the center remains free of cells and therefore clear.” Apparently, early versions have already been successfully placed in the eyes of rabbits, and if ongoing testing goes smoothly, they’ll be headed for humans as early as next year.

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