The company plans to start clinical studies to test the capabilities of the smart contact lens.

A California startup that's developing a smart contact lens will soon let people pop the lenses onto their eyeballs for testing.

Mojo Vision first showed off its smart contact lenses at CES 2020, but at the time, it only let journalists hold up the lens close to their eyes; they couldn't wear them.

On Tuesday, Mojo Vision announced(Opens in a new window) its CEO Drew Perkins became the first person to wear a "feature complete prototype lens” from the company during an internal test. The on-eye demo was significant because it showed the contact lens can remain functional, without any wiring to the device, while being worn.  

“After completing preclinical testing and mitigating potential safety risks, I wore Mojo Lens,” Perkins wrote in the blog post. “Much to my delight, I found I could interact with a compass to find my bearings, view images, and use an on-screen teleprompter to read a surprising but familiar quote.”

The technology is designed to offer an augmented reality experience on the lens. The most recent prototype has a MicroLED display with a 250-by-250-pixel resolution that measures at only 0.02 inches in diameter. The lens also contains a 5GHz radio and one of Arm’s smallest processors, allowing it to display and overlay digital objects atop whatever you see.

In addition, the latest prototype features(Opens in a new window) eye tracking, so that any virtual images displayed on the contact lens will hold still over your vision, even though your eyes are moving. The lenses operate with the help of built-in “micro-batteries,” but it’s unclear how long they can last on a single charge. 

Going forward, Mojo plans on conducting clinical studies using the prototypes lenses to test out their capabilities and receive feedback concerning the onboard software. “With this advancement, we now have a testing platform that helps us refine and build Mojo Lens that will ultimately lead to submission to the FDA for market approval,” Perkins added.  

Mojo Vision, which has been working on the technology since 2015, hopes the lenses will unlock an era of “invisible computing,” removing the need for clunky wearable hardware. “Ultimately, this is a tool that can give people an invisible assistant throughout their day to stay focused without losing access to the information they need to feel confident in any situation,” Perkins said.

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