Google AR Glasses?....out of date.

Castiel · 14 Apr 2012 at 01:43

http://m.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/pentagon-orders-innovative-dual-focus-contact-lens/25489

The Pentagon has placed an order for innovative contact lenses that using dual-focus technology to offer wearers a wider field of vision.

The iOptik lenses, created by Washington-based Innovega Inc., are paired with a compact ‘Heads Up Display’ (HUD) — a transparent display that presents real-time data and images without requiring a user to change their focus or viewpoints.

Aimed at granting troops heightened awareness in field operations, the lens dual-focus technology makes it possible to simultaneously focus on what is close to your eye and on distant objects without detrimental effects to normal vision.

This is possible due to separate filters being placed in each lens — which supports viewing both close and distant sources of light in focus simultaneously.

In each lens, the central parts send light from the HUD to the middle of the wearer’s pupil, while the outer areas forward light to the pupil’s rim.

“Normally, for example, with a camera you focus on something distant or something close… By wearing our contact lens you automatically have this multi-focus, or dual-focus, and you are doing something that humans don’t usually do,” said chief executive of Innoveg Steve Willey.

Earlier this week, the company signed a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to supply a functional prototype of the iOptik system.

The U.S. military and Air Force already use similar technology in military operations, but the current technology is reportedly far bulkier than the iOptik prototype.

The initial funding required for the project was provided by the United States Department of Defense.

The chief executive also hopes this technology may eventually enter the consumer market for entertainment or gaming purposes.

Some videos here

Where do I sign up?

SoundEng · 14 Apr 2012 at 01:51

Incredible... Technology advances never cease to amaze me.

Want.

StriderX · 14 Apr 2012 at 01:51

Not touching this silly nonsense til its a ocular implant.

PermaBanned · 14 Apr 2012 at 01:53

Wow, the military were testing them? That totally makes any new development in the field obsolete

I hate contacts. I've worn them once, and i haven't been able to put them in since. It just feels so wrong, and that's without getting into the problems you can have with infections or them slipping behind.

asim18 · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:07

Contact lenses are the last thing I'd want in my eyes on a battlefield. I can imagine something going horribly wrong.

Amazing technology though.

Rroff · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:10

asim18 said:
Contact lenses are the last thing I'd want in my eyes on a battlefield. I can imagine something going horribly wrong.

Amazing technology though.

Hostiles hack the technology and send an all black image to the HUD? (or BSOD for lols) obscuring vision?

asim18 · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:16

Rroff said:
Hostiles hack the technology and send an all black image to the HUD? (or BSOD for lols) obscuring vision?

Possibly

But I was thinking more like: debris in eye, rubs eye furiously causing contact lens to get misplaced

Castiel · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:17

Nothing wrong with contact lenses in combat.....the biggest advantage I can see besides the HUD and being able to focus on two distances is the 120 deg field of vision........

PermaBanned · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:23

Can you imagine how disorientating that would be?

Pestilence · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:31

PermaBanned said:
Can you imagine how disorientating that would be?

They must be working on one hell of a training program, that's for sure!

Castiel · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:31

PermaBanned said:
Can you imagine how disorientating that would be?

Not with training.....current HUDs are disorientating to begin with, you soon acclimatise to them. Increasing you field of vision shouldn't pose too many problems.

PermaBanned · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:40

Castiel said:
Not with training.....current HUDs are disorientating to begin with, you soon acclimatise to them. Increasing you field of vision shouldn't pose too many problems.

But being able to focus on two points?

asim18 · 14 Apr 2012 at 02:49

Castiel said:
Nothing wrong with contact lenses in combat.....the biggest advantage I can see besides the HUD and being able to focus on two distances is the 120 deg field of vision........

Fair enough, I personally hate contacts.

I'm more intriged by the "dual focus" thing. Isn't the human eye extremely quick at focusing anyway, I mean, you just need to point your eyes at something and your eyes have focused on it before you even think about it.

Jokester · 14 Apr 2012 at 04:23

PermaBanned said:
But being able to focus on two points?

You're still only focussing on one point, the lens itself is doing the dual focussing so the light that enters your eye has been conditioned to make it appear that it's all the same focal length.

FOV hack? What next, wall hacks?

Edit: The latest Mission Impossible has something very similar in it.

CaptainComedy · 14 Apr 2012 at 08:14

this is cool but I hate contacts.
Really hate contacts.

I would much rather them remove my eyes balls and put capable electronic balls in. Hate the idea of having to take out contacts.

Lukewhitworth · 14 Apr 2012 at 08:40

The only thing I have noticed that may be a problem is the weight of the contact, I saw the pictures on the bbc of google's hud contacts, they have the nano electronics visible in the contact in the shape of a clock hand pointing to 7 o'clock. Surely as your eyes start to dry out, this extra weight would be really uncomfortable or drop out?

Castiel · 14 Apr 2012 at 09:15

asim18 said:
Fair enough, I personally hate contacts.

I'm more intriged by the "dual focus" thing. Isn't the human eye extremely quick at focusing anyway, I mean, you just need to point your eyes at something and your eyes have focused on it before you even think about it.

As an ex-sniper I can tell you that the ability to remain focused on the Target and be able to read status/target data simultaneously would have been invaluable. And 120deg FOV...just amazing.

There is concern about motion sickness though I would have thought for mobile use, but again there are ways of combatting that.

Skillmister · 14 Apr 2012 at 09:25

PermaBanned said:
I hate contacts. I've worn them once, and i haven't been able to put them in since. It just feels so wrong, and that's without getting into the problems you can have with infections or them slipping behind.

I rarely notice i even have them in. The biggest problem for me is reaching up to push my glasses up my nose out of habit and prodding myself in the eye

King Damager · 14 Apr 2012 at 09:29

This will be the google ad replacement in fifteen years then.

I was talking to people in the military/weapons industry about the AR glasses the other day, and they said they had a visual HUD five/ten years ago on the Typhoon (I think) fighters helmets... In military terms the AR glasses were out of date probably before google started designing them... Then again, it's always the case if you want to compare military and civvy tech.

kd

Castiel · 14 Apr 2012 at 17:10

King Damager said:
This will be the google ad replacement in fifteen years then.

I was talking to people in the military/weapons industry about the AR glasses the other day, and they said they had a visual HUD five/ten years ago on the Typhoon (I think) fighters helmets... In military terms the AR glasses were out of date probably before google started designing them... Then again, it's always the case if you want to compare military and civvy tech.

kd

There have been AR HUDs around on the battlefield and built into scopes etc for years, but it is all a bit bulky and nowhere near as advanced as what they are talking about here......120deg visual field, almost twice the natural visual field, I still cant even imagine how damned amazing that would be to experience.