XPANCEO Unveils Five Smart Contact Lens Prototypes
Among the prototypes making their global debut were the Smart Contact Lens with Nanoparticles for Color Correction.
August 27th, 2024, Dubai, UAE — XPANCEO, a deep-tech company developing the next generation of computing via smart contact lenses, showcased five advanced prototypes at the AWE Asia conference, offering a glimpse into the future of wearable technology, as the company gears up to unveil a fully functional smart contact lens prototype by the end of 2026.
Among the prototypes making their global debut were the Smart Contact Lens with Nanoparticles for Color Correction and the Smart Contact Lens with a Unique Optical Pattern for Verification. The Smart Contact Lens with Nanoparticles for Color Correction is designed to enhance color perception for individuals with color blindness, eliminating the need for bulky glasses. These nanoparticles, incredibly tiny structures a million times thinner than a human hair, alter the properties of materials to create a 'supermaterial' that uniquely interacts with light. This interaction adjusts the light spectrum and improves contrast, which enables the 350 million people worldwide affected by color blindness to distinguish colors more effectively. Conference attendees had the exclusive opportunity to view and interact with the lenses.
The Smart Contact Lens with a Unique Optical Pattern for Verification will facilitate everyday tasks like making payments, transferring funds, and accessing restricted areas with greater ease and comfort. The optical pattern is just one of three security layers integrated into the lens. This pattern appears differently depending on the viewing angle and distance, creating an image that, from one perspective, can seem three-dimensional but flat from another, revealing only a portion of a security code. The dynamic visual effect makes replication nearly impossible, offering a higher level of security than traditional biometric methods like iris scans or fingerprints.
In addition to these new prototypes, XPANCEO also highlighted four previously announced prototypes, now significantly enhanced for AWE Asia. These include the world's first Holographic Smart Contact Lens for AR vision, which is capable of displaying images with a quality previously only possible through glasses or AR/VR headsets. The Smart Contact Lens with Transparent Electronics features a one-pixel display made possible by XPANCEO’s patent-pending ultra-thin transparent and flexible gold conductors, as well as an Intraocular Pressure (IOP) Sensor for Glaucoma Detection. Tested on a custom eye model, this sensor offers 50% more effectiveness than current solutions, a critical advancement for early detection of glaucoma.
XPANCEO’s focus at AWE Asia 2024 extends beyond terrestrial applications, delving into space exploration. The company has drawn insights from interviews with astronauts to address the unique challenges of space travel. Astronauts, often limited by bulky gloves, frequently operate tablets with their noses and receive complex instructions through earphones. Imagine receiving a directive like “Count the fifth wire and plug it into connector number 4,” which is both cumbersome and inefficient when executed through traditional methods. Remarkably, 80% of astronauts wear contact lenses in space, making smart contact lenses a natural next step. XPANCEO’s lenses will not only assist with task execution by overlaying visual instructions directly onto the astronauts’ field of view but also monitor critical health parameters, including intraocular pressure—vital for maintaining health in space.
