The glasses of the future might watch your glucose levels.

Augmented reality startup Magic Leap is exploring smart glasses that can “monitor glucose levels over time” along with other vitals, according to a patent released last week by the US Patent and Trademark Office. The patent was first filed by Magic Leap in November of last year.

Since its founding in 2010, Magic Leap has gained a reputation as one of the most secretive startups within the XR industry. The company has made waves thanks to irregular updates teasing new developments on its much-anticipated AR headset, known as “Lightwear.”

The first units of the AR glasses started shipping to developers in late March after being unveiled in December 2017, Bloomberg reports. The company is currently valued at more than $6 billion and has raised money from the likes of Google and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

The theoretical AR eyewear in Magic Leap’s new patent uses a “light analyzer configured to determine a polarization angle rotation of the reflected light from the eye of the user” to detect glucose levels based partly on the reflected light. These glasses would then look at previous glucose readings and “provide an alert to the user or clinician in response to comparing the contemporaneous glucose level with the historical glucose level.”

And the smart glasses wouldn’t just monitor glucose levels: the device could track physical changes in the user’s body, including “body temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, level of sweating” and then inform the wearer or a medical professional when “at least one parameter falls outside a range.” The eyewear would also track activities such as “eating, taking medication, exercising, or a combination thereof.”

Diabetics wearing the glasses could avoid the hassle of daily blood tests. But this wouldn’t be the first wearable for people suffering from the condition. K’Watch, a smartwatch awaiting US government approval, can monitor glucose levels without taking blood. Google has also been developing its own AR contact lenses that can do the same by checking the composition of tears.

Magic Leap didn’t respond to VRScout’s request for comment.

Image Credit: Magic Leap / Jang-Ung Park & UNIST