Abstract: An eye-mounted device includes a contact lens and an embedded imaging system. The front aperture of the imaging system faces away from the user's eye so that the image sensor in the imaging system detects imagery of a user's external environment. The optics for the imaging system has a folded optical path, which is advantageous for fitting the imaging system into the limited space within the contact lens. In one design, the optics for the imaging system is based on a two mirror design, with a concave mirror followed by a convex mirror.

Abstract: A system uses a femtosecond laser beam to polish a surface of an optical element to optical smoothness. The system includes a fixture, a laser system, and a controller. The fixture holds the optical element. The laser system generates the femtosecond laser beam. The femtosecond laser beam includes converging laser pulses with a pulse duration less than 900 femtoseconds. The controller controls relative positioning of the surface of the optical element and the femtosecond laser beam so that a waist of the femtosecond laser beam is outside the optical element and 0.5-2.0 Rayleigh ranges away from the surface of the optical element. Also, an intensity of the femtosecond laser beam at the surface of the optical element is sufficient to ablate the surface.

Abstract: A variety of femtoprojector optical systems are described. Each of them can be made small enough to fit in a contact lens using plastic injection molding, diamond turning, photolithography and etching, or other techniques. Most, but not all, of the systems include a solid cylindrical transparent substrate with a curved primary mirror formed on one end and a secondary mirror formed on the other end. Any of the designs may use light blocking, light-redirecting, absorbing coatings or other types of baffle structures as needed to reduce stray light.

Abstract: An augmented reality system including a source and a contact lens display can be used to project information from the contact lens display onto the retina of the wearer's eye. The source provides energy to the contact lens display and operates at a source frequency. The source includes a source circuit including a conductive coil. The contact lens display includes a resonant circuit including another conductive coil and a capacitive circuit. The resonant circuit receives energy from the conductive coil of the source via a magnetic field inductively coupling the conductive coils. The contact lens display additionally includes a feedback circuit to adjust the capacitance of the capacitive circuit to control a resonant frequency of the resonant circuit. The feedback circuit can control the capacitive circuit to maintain the resonant frequency of the resonant circuit near the source frequency as the wearer's eye blinks.

Abstract: A pair of electronic eyeglasses includes an eyeglasses frame and an eyeglasses lens mounted within the eyeglasses frame. At least one femtoprojector is embedded within the eyeglasses lens. The femtoprojector includes an image source and an optical system that projects an image from the image source onto the retina of the wearer. The femtoprojector is small enough that is does not significantly interfere with the wearer's view through the eyeglasses lens.

Abstract: An unobtrusive augmented reality (AR) system can be used to assist the wearer in every day interactions by projecting information from the contact lens display onto the retina of the wearer's eye. The unobtrusive augmented reality system includes a necklace and a contact lens display that are unobtrusive to the wearer and the wearer's surrounding environment. The necklace of the unobtrusive augmented reality system generates power and data for the contact lens displays. The necklace and contact lens display include conductive coils inductively coupled by a magnetic field. The inductive coupling allows data and power generated by the necklace to be transferred to the contact lens display. A projector in the contact lens display projects images generated from the data onto the retina of the wearers eye.

Abstract: A variable geometry contact lens structure having a thickness t sufficient to carry an active payload is constructed using layers of materials with high oxygen transmissibility and low oxygen transmissibility. The low transmissibility layer provide mechanical support for the active payload, and the high transmissibility layers provide adequate oxygen transmission to the cornea of the user's eye. The ratio of the thicknesses of the two layers changes abruptly at the boundaries between the payload and non-payload regions of the structure. For example, at a boundary of the payload region, a ratio of thicknesses of the high transmissibility layer t1 to thickness of the low transmissibility layer t2, R=t1/t2, changes by at least 2:1 over a lateral distance of not more than t.

Abstract: A method for customizing active contact lenses, such as contact lens displays, for a plurality of wearers includes the following: Contact lens precursors are obtained for a plurality of wearers. The contact lens precursors include active electronics. The same contact lens precursors are used as a starting point to generate active contact lenses for many different individuals, but they are processed into active contact lenses that are customized for each individual wearer.

Abstract: An augmented reality system can include an electronic contact lens, a power source, and a head wearable object. The contact lens, power source, and head wearable object all include corresponding conductive loops to enable wireless transfer of power between the power source and the contact lens. When current is driven through a conductive loop of the power source, the power source generates a primary time-varying magnetic field. The primary time varying magnetic field induces a current in a conductive loop of the head wearable object. The induced current in the head wearable object generates a secondary time-varying magnetic field. Both the primary and secondary time varying magnetic field generate a current in the conductive loop of the contact lens. The system can also include a haptic feedback system that allows information to be communicated between elements of the system.

Abstract: An eye-mounted display includes a scleral contact lens with one or more femtoprojectors that project images onto the user's retina. The scleral contact lens has a non-circular perimeter, for example elongated along the direction of the eye opening. The non-circular shape can result in less slippage and/or rotation of the contact lens relative to the eye. If the contact lens is elongated (compared to traditional circular lenses), then it can contain conductive coils that enclose a larger area. Thus, the lens increases coupling efficiency for power or data transfer. There can also be more space within the contact lens for payloads.

Abstract: A variety of femtoprojector optical systems are described. Each of them can be made small enough to fit in a contact lens using plastic injection molding, diamond turning, photolithography and etching, or other techniques. Most of the systems include a solid transparent substrate with a curved primary mirror formed on one face, a secondary mirror formed on the opposite face, and an annular exit aperture located axially between the two mirrors The designs use light blocking, light-redirecting, absorbing coatings or other types of baffle structures to reduce stray light.

Abstract: A contact lens has a first circumferential groove containing a wire coil and an electronics cavity containing one or more electronic devices. The circumferential groove and electronics cavity are formed in a peripheral region of the contact lens. The coil is configured to wirelessly receive electrical power and/or data, and to provide the received power and/or data to the electronic devices in the electronics cavity and to a femtoprojector or other electronic devices in the contact lens.

Abstract: A device for communicating data with a contact lens through a communication interface is disclosed. In embodiments of the invention, an accessory device identifies one or more wireless channels to communicate with a contact lens. Scheduling of this wireless communication is performed such that a preferred channel is selected based on noise and/or interference. In certain embodiments, a centralized scheduler, such as a Wi-Fi access point, is used to reserve the preferred channel within the associated wireless network so that clients within the network don't use this channel.

Abstract: In some designs, an eye-mounted display includes multiple femtoprojectors contained inside a contact lens. Femtoprojectors that project to peripheral regions of the retina can have lower resolution. In some designs, these peripheral femtoprojector optical system includes an optically transparent core with two ends. The image source is located at one end, and a lens element is located at the other end. The end with the image source is the same size or larger than the end with the lens element. The core may be a cylinder or a frustum, for example. The sidewall structure extending between the two ends is designed to reduce stray rays from the image source. For example, the sidewall structure may absorb stray rays or may redirect rays so that they do not exit the core or so that they do not enter the pupil of the eye.

Abstract: An eye-mounted display includes a femtoprojector, which includes a backplane and a frontplane. The backplane receives data (e.g., data packets) that specify the image to be projected by the eye-mounted display. It converts this data to drive signals (e.g., current) to drive the frontplane. The frontplane contains an array of light emitters (e.g., LEDs) that produce light according to the drive signals, thus generating the desired image. In one approach, the image is deconstructed and transmitted to the backplane as needed as microframes which are displayed asynchronously and only for regions where the image has changed, rather than continuously scanning full picture frames at the full frame rate. In another aspect, the femtoprojector has variable pitch between adjacent light emitters.

Abstract: An electronic contact lens includes multiple femtoprojectors within the contact lens. Different femtoprojectors project images onto different portions of the retina. The images can be aligned by an alignment circuit within the contact lens. The alignment circuit can adjust the physical position or orientation of one or more femtoprojectors. Additionally, the alignment circuit can configure a location within a femtoprojector array from which an image is projected. A user can provide an input to align the femtoprojectors. For instance, a user can provide an input to adjust a location from which a first femtoprojector projects a test image until the test image is aligned with a test image projected by a second femtoprojector. The alignment circuit can, based on the user's input, determine alignment information for the femtoprojectors, and the contact lens can project subsequent images based on the alignment information.

Abstract: An augmented reality system including a necklace and a contact lens display can be used to project information from the contact lens display onto the retina of the wearer's eye. In one example, the necklace generates a time-varying magnetic field (TVMF) that provides energy and information to the contact lens display via inductive coupling. The necklace can be configured to minimize the amount of energy absorbed by the body of the wearer while maintaining power transfer to the contact lens display. In one example, the necklace includes multiple conductive coils generating constructively interfering TVMs to effectively transmit energy while reducing the amount of energy absorbed by the human body. In another example, the necklace includes a parasitic coil generating a destructively interfering TVMF and a magnetic shield to effectively transmit energy while reducing the amount of energy absorbed by the human body.

Abstract: An eye-mounted device includes a contact lens and an embedded camera, which for convenience will be referred to as a femtocamera. The front aperture of the femtocamera faces away from the user's eye so that the image sensor in the femtocamera detects imagery of a user's external environment. The femtocamera optics has a folded optical path, which is advantageous for fitting the femtocamera into the limited space within the contact lens. In one design, the optics for the femtocamera is based on a two mirror design, with a concave mirror followed by a convex mirror. In an alternate design, the optics for the camera includes an imaging lens near the front aperture.

Abstract: A contact lens contains an inward pointing camera, which will be referred to as a retinal camera since it images light reflected from the retina. These can be reflections of physical features of the retina, of images of an external scene imaged by the eye onto the retina, or images projected onto the retina for example from small projectors contained in the contact lens (femtoprojectors). The field of view (FOV) of the retinal camera is sufficiently large that these reflections can be tracked relative to each other and/or relative to their position within the retinal camera's FOV. This information can be processed to track eye gaze and movement relative to the outside world, to align images from the femtoprojector with the eye and/or to align images from the femtoprojector with images from the outside world, among other tasks.

Abstract: A system controls a brightness of an augmented reality (AR) eye-mounted device. The system includes an eye-mounted display, a photodetector system, and a controller. The eye-mounted display includes a contact lens and a femtoprojector. The femtoprojector is contained in the contact lens and is configured to project an AR image to a user's retina. The AR image is overlaid on an external scene viewed by the user through the contact lens. The photodetector system detects a brightness level of the external scene. Based on the brightness level of the external scene, the controller adjusts a brightness level of the AR image projected to the user's retina. In some embodiments, the eye-mounted display receives image data defining the AR image and the controller adjusts a bit depth of the image data based on the brightness level of the AR image.