We recently profiled a new crop of Augmented Reality video games designed for your mobile phone. How adorably 2010. The whole concept of mobile AR is already behind the curve, the real future will be in Augmented Visiona virtual layer on reality, no smart phone necessary. And “AV” may have just taken one giant step closer to feasibility. A research team at the University of Washington has designed a contact lens that has the ability to project LED displays directly into the irises.

The concept originated in 2008 when the UoW team developed a proof-of-concept contact lens embedded with electronics that gave diabetes patients the ability to monitor glucose levels in their tear fluid. The prototype contained a single red LED that would project feedback to the lens bearer. The team has since crafted blue miniature LEDs, leaving only green to be developed for a full-color display. The lenses are powered remotely by nearby “loop antennas,” which transmit electricity directly to the lens.

Lead researcher Babak Parvis comments “You won’t necessarily have to shift your focus to see the image generated by the contact lens,” it would just appear in front of you and your view of the real world will be completely unobstructed when the display is turned off.

A Swiss company, Sensimed has created a contact lens with embedded electronics for glaucoma patients that allows doctors to accurately and continuously monitor fluctuations in intraocular pressure (pictured above; not yet approved for the US). Like the UoW team’s device, Sensimed’s lens is fitted with a ring of electronics around the periphery, which gives the user a very cyborgy appearance (and, at this point, with TVs pasted on our eyeballs, I suppose the term “cyborg” may be fitting).

As for what can be done with this technology, the possibilities are nearly limitless. Anything that we are preparing for with Augmented Reality could be done while leaving your hands free.

Of course, on the more nefarious side, we would have to maintain strict control over when the eyeball TV is turned on and what it would show. Since the display sits underneath your eyelids, you would never be able to escape it. Popup ads could invade your dreams; spam could follow you to work. Like that scene in A Clockwork Orange, except it would never end.

via NewScientist, image via Sensimed