OPPO AR contact lens in development to realise our sci-fi dreams


If you ever wore a contact lens and wanted information to appear on one of your eyes, then this upcoming product might be for you. Smartphone manufacturer OPPO Mobile filed a patent for an AR contact lens that might bring everyone's sci-fi dreams into reality.

While the product is still far off, an AR contact lens could mean information can appear in your eye whenever you want. Should this do well, it will be the closest we nerds will have to bring out CGI keyboards like Iron Man or look into secret areas like The Batman. But how does it work?

How will this AR contact lens work?

A summary from Tianyancha (translated by Pandaily) reveals that the display device is on one side of the contact lens, where information will be displayed. Two display areas are planned, with light transmission effects that can supposedly improve visual effects on the AR device.

OPPO Mobile previously revealed Air Glasses that can connect to your phone and show some of that information in your eyes. We imagine that the AR contact lens will work in a similar manner once the finer details have been revealed. Here’s hoping that it lets us play Pokémon GO with one eye, even if that sounds like a horrible experience.

Of course, this technology is not necessarily new; Snapchat parent company Snap has created workable AR glasses. However, shrinking that technology into the size of a contract lens feels like a seemingly impossible feat. Then again, nothing is impossible, right?

Read More:Snap believes AR enhancements are better than ‘hypothetical Metaverse’

What else can it do?

Details on what the OPPO AR contact lens can do are slim, mostly because it’s still a patent. The company will definitely release more information when this device is ready for the public. Unfortunately, that release might not be anytime soon.

OPPO AR contact lens
click to enlarge
OPPO Mobile/Tianyancha

Right now, it’s hard to see how devices like this can replace the smartphone; the comfort level just won't be the same. While sci-fi movies make all this futuristic equipment look easy, we doubt most people will be able to comprehend an AR contact lens while walking the street.

Still, if AR equipment like this can make our daily lives better, projects like this can pay off in the end. At the least, improvements like this are better than the virtual reality that this supposed metaverse is expected to give us.

For more articles like this, take a look at our AR, Biotech, New Peripherals, and News pages.