The days of picking up a mobile phone to read a text message are numbered. In the future, all you’ll have to do is stare intently at a projected image in front of your eyes.

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a contact lens with the potential to project a telephone display directly on to the retina.

The technology could allow any high-resolution image to be displayed in front of the eye. Eventually, games, documents and music collections could all be displayed in a user’s field of vision.

“We realised that we could make really tiny functional devices that can be incorporated into a contact lens to do a lot more than just improve vision,” Babak Parviz, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington, told The Times. “Our goal is to integrate a display which can do everything that an iPhone or computer does now – but in front of your eye. A user could manipulate the document by blinking or by using his voice.”

By incorporating metal circuitry and light-emitting diodes into a polymer-based lens, the researchers created a functional circuit that is biologically compatible with the eye. Ultra-thin antennas, a few nanometres thick, are used to transmit information wirelessly to the outside world.

The lens, which is as thin and as comfortable to wear as an ordinary hard contact lens, was created with two purposes in mind, its creator said.

One is to let users live in an “augmented reality”. Computer images superimposed on to the field of vision could give soldiers and doctors real-time information about their environment, as well as allowing civilians to browse through their music collection. The lenses’ other purpose is more controversial.

“We’re looking at using the lens as a sensor to monitor chemical levels in the body,” Professor Parviz said.

“The cells on the eye are in direct contact with blood serum, making [the lens] perfect as a continuous health monitoring device.”

If a user’s blood sugar level drops below a certain level the device could be set up to flash red and direct him to the nearest hospital.

Professor Parviz said that there were valid privacy concerns. “Any data communication is susceptible to hacking.”

A spokesperson at the Information Commission in London said: “We’re not aware of this technology, but it is always important for safeguards to be put in place to protect personal information.”

Professor Parviz added: “It’s going to take some time to get to any of these possibilities [safeguarding data].

“But there’s nothing in the physics or engineering that would make this impossible.” The system’s embryonic state has not prevented big corporations, or the American military, taking the Washington project very seriously.

Professor Parviz has received financial backing from both. “We’re even looking at installing an infrared camera so soldiers can see in the dark,” he said.

The next step for the Washington team is to address safety concerns.

The researchers placed the lens in a rabbit’s eye for 20 minutes and found no adverse effects. But they did not turn the system on.

“We have to be careful,” Professor Parviz said. “It’s a functioning circuit. It could generate some heat. We need to take all the possible precautions to make sure this is safe.”

A spokesman for the Royal College of Surgeons said: “New technology is constantly advancing surgical practice – but any new methods must be rigorously tested and assessed for their benefit to patients before use.”

Looking to the future

The lens produced by the University of Washington, above, could revolutionise surgery. Detailed information on patients could be superimposed on to a surgeon’s field of vision. Doctors could then “zoom in” on a body to see details that would be invisible to the naked eye

Other devices employing augmented reality are coming on the market. At least 15 worldwide patents have been submitted this year

These include a headset for training firemen, which superimposes smoke and fire on to normal vision, and a “virtual mirror” that projects an image of an internal organ on to the outer layer of a patient’s skin Source: University of Washington

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