Does science fiction film shine into reality? AR glasses can be worn directly like contact lenses.
Isn't it very sci-fi?
Moreover, this VR contact lens not only integrates complex hardware and functions into a device similar to a contact lens, achieving seamless wearing, but also has very powerful functions.
It can be applied to various real-life scenarios, such as sports and fitness, health monitoring, travel navigation, and so on.
The product comes from the American startup Mojo Vision and has now started formal testing. The first tester is Drew Perkins, founder and CEO of Mojo Vision.
As soon as the product was unveiled, netizens were excited.
I can't wait to taste this cyberpunk product:
However, rational consumers also exist. How long can an electronic product be used if it is brought into the eyes? Will there be any security issues?
Let's take a look together.
What kind of AR glasses?
This VR glasses, named Mojo Lens, is a prototype AR contact lens developed by Mojo Vision.
The most disruptive thing is that Mojo Lens has changed the way VR glasses are worn, abandoning the glasses like "cheat" mode and allowing them to directly cover the surface of the eyeball like contact lenses.
At the same time, it also has the function of conventional AR glasses.
For example, sports monitoring can display physical conditions such as heart rate and blood pressure
Or travel navigation:
Search for information anytime and anywhere, read without feeling:
……
The question is, how can the complex software and hardware system of AR glasses be integrated into a lens the size of a contact lens?
According to Mojo Vision, Mojo Lens contains 5 major black technologies:
Firstly, there is the ultra-high pixel display screen:
The core of Mojo Lens is a MicroLED display screen with 14000 pixels per inch, a diameter of less than 0.5 millimeters, and a pixel pitch of 1.8 microns, making it the smallest and most densely packed dynamic content display screen in the world.
Secondly, the underlying processing hardware.
This underlying processing hardware is specially developed by Mojo Vision for this contact AR lens, including a 5GHz radio and ARM Core M0 processor, which can transmit sensor data from the lens and upload augmented reality (AR) content to the display screen.
Again, it is a specialized battery system.
The battery used is a medical grade micro shaped battery distributed on the outer ring of the glasses. The official battery capacity has not been disclosed, but Mojo Vision has stated that the final version of the product can ensure that the glasses run for a whole day.
In addition, Mojo Lens is also equipped with a power management circuit and a wireless charging system.
In order to ensure the stability of the image, Mojo Lens also has built-in dedicated accelerators, gyroscopes, and magnetometers, so that the interface can track the movement of the glasses at any time.
Finally, there is Mojo Lens' proprietary motion sensing algorithm, which allows wearers to control the interface through their eyes, such as opening/closing applications, switching interfaces, and so on.
However, there are still some areas that need improvement in this prototype, with two core points:
The screen can only display monochrome, with more colors and complex images, and continuous improvement is needed;
This AR glasses is currently not a standalone hardware device, but needs to be connected to a device similar to a neck massager. Essentially, the "contact lens" on the surface of the eye is now only a display.
However, Steve Sinclair, Senior Vice President of Product at Mojo Vision, also stated that in the future, computing units may be integrated into glasses.
Above is an overview of this AR contact lens prototype, and the developer behind it, Mojo Vision, also needs to be understood.
Who is Mojo Vision?
According to public information, Mojo Vision was founded by Drew Perkins in 2015 and is headquartered in Saratoga, California. It is an AR glasses manufacturer.
Before founding Mojo Vision, Perkins had also established multiple companies, mostly focused on the telecommunications and communication industry.
The original intention of establishing Mojo Vision was somewhat unexpected:
In 2012, Perkins suffered from cataracts and founded Mojo Vision to save his vision.
And Mojo Vision's products were first applied in the medical field, also because of this reason.
In the capital market, Mojo Vision has accumulated 4 rounds of financing since its establishment, with a total financing amount of 205 million US dollars. The details are as follows:
In November 2018, Series A raised $50 million, with investors including Shanda Network Khosla Ventures,、NEA,、Fusion Fund,、Liberty Global Ventures,、8VC,、Dolby Family Ventures、 AME Cloud Ventures And Open Field Capital;
In March 2019, Series B raised $58 million from investors including Google, HP, Motorola, LG Electronics, and others;
In April 2020, the B+round raised $51 million, with investors NEA leading the investment and Gradient Ventures, Khodra Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures, and others following suit;
In January 2022, the B++round raised $45 million from investors including Amazon, PTC, Edge Investments, and HiJoJo Partners.
In terms of products, the prototype Mojo Lens showcased this time was released as early as the end of March this year. The first appearance of the first generation product was in 2020, when the functions of this AR contact lens were relatively simple, mainly applied in improving vision.
With Perkins being the first to try it out, it was also announced that Mojo Lens has entered the internal testing phase. Currently, Mojo Vision has established a testing platform for conducting larger scale testing.
As for when it can be put into the market for commercialization, Mojo Vison said that everything depends on the approval of the US Food and Drug Administration.
But the specific time is uncertain.
However, Mojo Vision has previously disclosed that it has found partners in industries such as healthcare and outdoor sports.
In terms of pricing, Mojo Vision has also set a preliminary price for Mojo Lens:
Equivalent to a high-end smartphone.
Finally, with such sci-fi AR glasses priced at the equivalent of a high-end smartphone, would you be willing to give it a try first?
