The term ‘wearable technology’ relates to any electronic products that have been designed specifically to be worn on the person. After three years of research it is estimated that the wearable tech market will be worth in excess of $30bn in 2016, with further growth taking place over three stages with the final estimate being over $150bn by 2026.
One of the most exciting prospects for those who have worn glasses or contact lenses for most of their lives is AR & VR smartglasses and functional contact lenses. For those of us that know the feeling in the morning of searching for your glasses and panicking if you have not left them in the same place each night, or the other horrible feeling when you have fallen asleep in your contact lenses and think you have gone blind in the morning, never mind not being able to see when you awake each day, for those people and the upcoming generation of spectacle wearers anything that adds to the experience of being a glasses or contact wearer on a positive note is welcome.
Based on some exciting research and development efforts over the last few years, plus some collaborations and high profile projects, developers are enjoying an exciting range of allied technologies with the aim of focusing their efforts besides creating those devices and components specifically made for this fast-growing industry.
So what is smart eyewear?
It appears that the newest devices are going well beyond the conventional description of what a smart object is and are, in effect, wearable and portable computers that host a multitude of functionalities including specially designed apps. These apps offer the wearer new ways to interact with their world along with smartphone capabilities which include health tracking options. We are well used to having the world of apps at our fingertips and can now access apps that help us to budget our money, fight a zombie apocalypse or even enjoy a bet on your favorite game at one of the mobile casinos pay by phone bill. These advanced wearable devices have sparked immense interests and worldwide innovation efforts.
One of the most important and significant features in this revolution is user interface as when a constant evolution is taking place with computers this allows interaction to become more natural and adoption wider.
Eye worn computing in the form of smart glasses is definitely bringing the next big step in this ever changing space.
Near eye displays and optics represent other technology that is also evolving and thus improving at it evolves, and the further that this technology evolves then the nearer that innovative products like near eye and on eye computers become a possibility, and it is hoped that we shall see both smart glasses and smart contact lenses within the next decade.
