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TV in your contact lens? Grow up 007.

Posted on 11. Feb, 2009 by Bradley Hebdon in Features

Miniaturization of circuits and displays could lead to televisions shrunk into contact lenses and being powered by body heat, according to British futurologist Ian Pearson.

Channels could be changed using voice commands or gestures, Pearson told The Daily Mail. “You will just pop it into your eye in the morning and take it out at the end of the day,” he said.

Pearson’s predictions are in contrast to how consumer electronics companies have been pushing bigger TVs. In the last few years, advances in plasma and LCD panel technologies along with falling prices have made it easy to buy TVs with up to 100-inches in screen size.

But Pearson believes that trend will change and contact lenses that double up as personal TV sets could be reality within the next ten years.

Already scientists have taken the first steps towards making contact lenses more powerful and versatile, says LiveScience. Digital contact lenses that can zoom in on objects and display related information have been tested on rabbits for up to 20 minutes. Digital and programmable contact lenses will be the next big step, say futurists like Pearson.

Wow, cool. But something just doesn’t seem right here. The human eye does have limitations, especially when it comes to focusing on an object that close. Furthermore, there are the safety issues.  Cell phones are controversial enough, can you imagine gunning down the freeway, while watching the Champions League final, and not the road.

This is in my opinion a classic case of something that sounds good, but is full of impractical baggage. OK, so it might work itself nicely into the next Bond flick as a gratuitous gadget. Enter Q.

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Tags: 007, Bond, Contact Lens, Future, Pearson, Technology, TV