CMT team unveils LCD contact lens

 

Ghent University's Centre of Microsystems Technology announced its development on a tiny curved LCD display that can be embedded into a contact lens and project messages.

To show off the tiny LCD, the team from the Belgium university displayed a dollar sign on the spherical surface, visible in the video below. 

The prototype only has the graphical ability of a pocket calculator, and can only display very simple symbols at the moment. 

Eye candy

Though it's limited for now, researchers have imagined a bright future for the technology - one with both medical and cosmetic applications. 

The lens could darken to control the amount of light being transmitted to the retina for those with light sensitivity. Contacts with the tech could also be used to color the iris - perhaps setting off a future fashion trend.

The research team said the lenses won't replace "cinema screens for films," but the technology could eventually be used to create a heads-up display to guide users with road direction, or project text messages from smartphones. 

However, those uses are still in the somewhat distant future and the lens still has a lot of development time before it's released to consumers. 

iContact

Though LED contact lens displays have been around for some time, those lenses are limited to just a few small pixels on a very tiny area. 

The Belgium development, on the other hand, uses the entire surface of the lens to display pixels. 

It can also handle many different pixel numbers and sizes for a variety of applications, plus display one big pixel to act as adaptive sunglasses, or show many different pixels to make up symbols.

One of the biggest hurdles for the team was getting the liquid crystal cells to form a curved sphere. 

"The main challenge was to create a very thin, spherically curved substrate with active layers that could withstand the extreme molding processes," Jelle De Smet, head researcher for the project, said in a press release.

The team overcame that challenge by using new types of conductive polymers and then integrating those into a smooth spherical cell. 

Getting people to actually stick these LCD lenses in their eyes might be another obstacle the team needs to overcome before this idea gets off the ground.

A SALUTE TO THE BRAVE HEARTS OF INDIAN SOIL

The biggest terror attack on India needed some brave hearts to fight it. When indian history will be written post Nov 26, Hemant Karkare, Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Ashok Kamte, Hemant Karkare, Sadanand Date, Vijay Salaskar's will be a few names that would definitely require a golder stylus.

MAJOR SANDEEP UNNIKRISHNAN

 

"Sandeep Unnikrishnan was a Major in the Indian Army serving in the elite Special Action Group of the National Security Guards. He was killed in action while fighting terrorists in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks."

 

HEMANT KARKARE

"Hemant Karkare was the chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad. He was killed in action during the 2008 Mumbai attacks after being shot three times in the chest."

VIJAY SALASKAR

 

"Vijay Salaskar was a Senior Police Inspector and encounter specialist serving with the Mumbai police.

Salaskar was killed while fighting terrorists in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Before his death Salaskar was head of the Anti-Extortion Cell, Mumbai."

ASHOK KAMTE

"Ashok Kamte was the Additional Commissioner of the Mumbai Police supervising the Eastern region. He was killed by terrorist bullets, while in action during the 2008 Mumbai attacks."

HAVALDAR GAJENDER SINGH BISHT

"He was an NSG commando who died during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

While securing the Nariman House during Operation Black Tornado, Singh, a member of the Parachute Regiment was fatally wounded while storming the Jewish center."

TUKARAM OMBLE

"Tukaram Omble was an assistant sub-inspector, and a retired army man who had entered the Mumbai police. He was killed during the 2008 Mumbai attacks while fighting terrorists at Girgaum Chowpatty."

AND OTHER MARTYRS

PRAMOD NAIR TECHNOLOGY BLOG  

salutes and pays tributes to the brave hearts who lost their lives to save the countrymen.

 

A 408-day journey through nine countries using Google Maps

A former Marine Sergeant has reportedly completed a 408 day, 5000 mile (8047 kilometre) walk through nine countries in south-east Asia, using Google Maps.

Fiore's inspiration for "Smile Trek" came in 2007 when he witnessed "an incredible amount of poverty" while in Senegal. He then decided to set aside a year of travelling, and found a cause to throw his weight behind.

 

Winston Fiore, 27 made this journey to raise funds for the International Children's Surgical Foundation, an organisation that provides free plastic surgeries to children in developing countries, mostly who suffer from a cleft palate.

The tale begins in 2007, when Fiore was deployed with the Marine Corps to Senegal for three weeks of training and was struck by how little of the world he had seen, following which he resolved to spend a year travelling on foot through a developing part of the world, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

According to the paper, he began mapping out his trip in 2010, creating what he describes as a "pretty oval" route that would take him through some of the biggest metropolitan areas in Brunei, China, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, covering about 5000 miles.

The first week of his trek, he made printouts of the walking directions from Google Maps, but he fumbled through the pages each day, trying to figure out where to turn, or if he had gotten off track. He therefore discovered buying a SIM card in whatever country he was in, and was able to get directions directly off his phone, the paper said.

Then there was the time, also in China, where the directions led him to the edge of a river with no bridge in sight, and as he was starting to freak out, he saw a man who ferries people across the river, and he got a ride for free.

"It's not like the directions said, 'There will be an old Chinese man to ferry you across the river, and he likes mangoes.' But the walking directions routed me there, and he was able to get me across the river," said Fiore.

Fiore completed his journey on Tuesday, and has raised 65,000 dollars of his 75,000 dollar goal to give to the International Children's Surgical Foundation, and also discovered the unexpected, with the help of a mapping app, the paper added.

As of now, Smile Trek is still some US$14,000 short of its fundraising goal of US$75,000. If you'd like to help put smiles on some underprivileged faces, you can make a donation here.