AR Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses
AR Eyeglasses and Contact Lenses
AR lenses (also called anti-reflective coating) are glasses that have a layer of coating on them that helps prevent light from reflecting back and forth on the front and back surfaces of your eyeglasses.
They improve vision, reduce eye strain, and make your lenses look more attractive. They are also more scratch-resistant and durable, which can help save you money on replacements over time.
AR Contact Lenses
Ar contact lenses are the next step in the tech world, putting augmented reality displays right in your eyeball. They’ll require FDA approval and a prescription before they’re available to the general public, but once that’s done, you could have heads-up-style navigation, health or fitness progress visualizations, or even real-time flight info on your eyeballs.
The technology, called KERI-UNIST, uses a 3D printer to print micro-patterns on a lens display without applying voltage. Unlike the traditional method, it doesn’t use a camera lens to capture images and is more energy efficient in terms of power usage.
This type of display is a lot smaller than a smartphone, with greenish pixel sizes only about a quarter the width of a red blood cell. It also uses a “femtoprojector,” which means it expands the imagery optically and beams it to a central patch of your retina, where the information is then superimposed on what you see in the real world.
Until now, the main challenge has been wearability, but researchers from Purdue University have now developed an approach that’s less uncomfortable than some of the previous generations. It’s made of a ar eyeglasses soft and stretchy material that bends to the shape of your face, rather than forming stiff, rigid edges.
That’s a big improvement over traditional smart glasses, which are bulky and inconvenient. It also allows for a wider field of view, something that’s particularly important in fields like construction or electrical work where a clearer perspective is essential.
Its biggest challenge will likely be battery life, which is why Mojo Vision plans to make these smart contact lenses as reusable as possible. The goal is for them to last a day while the user’s computationally active, so they can be worn throughout the day without having to be re-charged at night.
Once they’re out on the market, the first AR-enabled contact lenses could help people with vision impairments or niche industries (like athletes) improve their performance. It will take time to develop the software applications that will allow these devices to work.
As long as it’s easy to get hold of a pair, AR contact lenses could be a major boon to many consumers and businesses in the coming years. They could provide improved visuals, real-time contrast and lighting adjustment, as well as night vision.
AR Smart Glasses
AR smart glasses are wearable computer-capable glasses that overlay digital 3D images or holograms on the user’s real-world scene. This can be done by using a camera, sensors, or other environment or object identification technologies. These types of devices can also use geolocation methods to find the user’s location and overlay the corresponding digital 3D images or holograms in that location.
These devices may be used for consumer or business purposes. They can be accessed and used via handheld devices such as smartphones or tablets that have AR apps installed on them, or by plugging the glasses into a computer.
One example of an AR use case is a virtual shopping list that allows family members to add items to their list even while they aren’t at the store, minimizing trips and the likelihood of forgetting something. Another AR use case involves tracking the progress of runners and performance athletes by displaying augmented workouts on the screen of the wearer’s glasses.
This is a great way to keep track of your fitness progress, as you can compete against your own personal record or run alongside a holographic partner. It’s a new way to engage with your workout, while staying motivated and focused.
An important use case of AR in retail is comparison shopping, as it enables shoppers to see products and their features in more detail without leaving the comfort of their home or office. It can be a great way to increase customer engagement, as well as increase sales.
Another AR use case is field service, as it helps on-site employees fix issues faster and more efficiently. This is a great way to help workers get their work done quickly and safely, while saving on fuel costs.
The most popular AR smart glasses on the market are Vuzix Blade and North Focals, both of which have a wide range of features and can be used for many different tasks. They offer voice control, touchpad navigation, and waveguide optics to project a see-through image on the front of the lens.
In addition, most of these glasses come with a built-in speaker to play music and movies. They are typically very light, but you’ll want to be careful about charging them too often because they drain a lot of battery power.
AR Smart Lenses
Smart lenses, like AR glasses, are essentially transparent displays that sit on your eye ar eyeglasses to provide a virtual display. But unlike AR glasses, which are essentially virtual reality goggles, they lack the cameras and sensors necessary to “see” the real world.
California-based Mojo Vision is developing a set of smart lenses that display information to the user’s eyes through an augmented reality display. Its prototypes have 14,000 pixel-per-inch micro-displays, image-recognition tech (to help avoid disturbing users when it’s not wanted), wireless radio and motion sensors.
The company is working with healthcare providers to develop applications that will help patients manage their health through improved imagery overlays and a zoom function that allows users to get a closer look at objects. It also plans to use the technology to help people with low vision by enhancing the quality of visual data.
While the idea of wearing an eye-mounted computer may seem like a sci-fi fantasy, the concept has actually been around for a few years now. Alphabet’s Verily, for example, tried to make a smart contact lens that tracked glucose levels through the tears of diabetics but ultimately scrapped the project because there wasn’t enough evidence to support its claims.
Other companies are aiming to develop similar devices, including Meta. Its Quest 2 specs have transparent OLED displays hidden in the top of the frame that project images onto the transparent lenses in front of your eyes.
According to Hayes, these transparent displays are able to “recognize what you’re looking at and give you the best experience.” He says they can be programmed to respond to gestures and movements. He points to Pokémon Go, the game that exploded in popularity in 2016, as an example of how AR can be used for a range of different tasks.
However, the technology is still very much in its early stages, and while there are some positive signs, many obstacles remain. The first challenge is getting the electronics and display to work properly together. This involves a long process of testing and optimization, including power consumption, battery life, eye tracking and software application development.
AR Lenses
AR lenses, or anti-reflective lens coatings, are a key technology in making glasses that enhance your eyesight. They can help you see better in all lighting conditions, make your eyeglasses look more attractive, and increase your comfort while wearing them.
Typically made of several layers of metal oxides, AR coatings are a great way to reduce glare on your lenses. The way they work is to decrease the index refraction of light entering the lens, which means that it bends more when entering and exiting the surface of the AR film. When two or more films are stacked on top of each other, they cancel each other out and eliminate the glare.
These incredibly thin layers of film are applied to the surface of your lenses using vacuum deposition technology. They are typically 0.2 to 0.3 microns thick (two one-hundredths of a millimeter), which is much thinner than the thickness of a standard eyeglass lens.
A premium AR treatment can offer a complete lens protection system to help you avoid smudges and scratches, which can damage your lenses and cause them to lose their clarity. Most premium AR treatments also include a hydrophobic (water-repellent) surface treatment, which makes the lenses easier to clean and prevents water spots from forming.
Many AR treatments also include an oleophobic (oil-repellent) surface treatment, which can be used to repel grease and oils on the lens. The combination of these two surface treatments can also help repel dust and other debris, so your lenses will stay cleaner longer.
In addition to these benefits, AR coatings can also improve your visual performance by reducing the amount of glare that your lenses reflect back onto your eyes. This can be especially helpful for people who spend a lot of time driving at night or reading on their computers.
Some specialty AR treatments can also filter out harmful blue light from digital devices and lamps that cause eyestrain. This can reduce the risks of cataracts, macular degeneration, and other vision problems.