Abstract: Small optics (femtooptics) may be made with optical metasurfaces or diffractive surfaces. Baffles may be formed in the femtooptics with through-glass-via techniques or a variety of etching strategies. Femtooptics may in addition be made using wafer stacking techniques. Variations and combinations of these approaches lead to femtooptics manufacturable in vast quantities by semiconductor wafer processing techniques, also referred to as wafer level optics.

Abstract: A display is created using “smart pixels.” A smart pixel is a pixel of a display that integrates the pixel pipeline as part of the pixel, rather than using separate integrated circuits. A smart pixel may be based on an integrated stack that includes light emitting elements, an external data contact for receiving digital data for that pixel, and also the pixel pipeline from the digital data to the light emitting elements.

Abstract: A contact lens having a cap, core, and base forming three layers to allow for the contact lens to be thick enough to accommodate a payload, while ensuring sufficient oxygenation of the wearer's eye. The cap and base are each a thin layer of gas-permeable material, each shaped to form an air gap between them and the core. The two air gaps are connected by air passages that traverse the core. Oxygen from an outside environment passes through the gas-permeable cap to reach the outer air gap, through the air passages to the inner air gap, and through the gas-permeable base to reach the cornea of the wearer's eye. The cap may be annular in form, having a center hole such that the cap does not extend over the central zone of the core, reducing a thickness of the contact lens.

Abstract: A microbattery uses automated machinery to achieve small sizes. The case includes a first terminal that has a hole. A second terminal is located in the hole of the case and is electrically separated from the first terminal. The battery includes two electrodes (anode and cathode). A first electrode is electrically connected to the first terminal. A pin extends through the hole in the first electrode. The pin is electrically connected on one end to the second terminal and on an opposite end to a second electrode.

Abstract: A microbattery uses automated machinery and press-fitting to achieve small sizes. The battery has a case with a width of not more than two mm. The case includes a first terminal and a second terminal. A first electrode is electrically connected to the first terminal of the case. A second electrode includes a conductive lip that makes a press fit contact to the case, whereby the second electrode is electrically connected to the second terminal of the case.

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 small imager mounted on a user's eye (referred to as a femtoimager) is coordinated with an external camera. The femtoimager may be contained in a contact lens, and it may be aligned with the gaze a user's eye. The femtoimager and external camera capture images with overlapping views of the external environment. Images from the two imagers may be compared with one another to estimate the femtoimager's view of the external environment relative to the camera's view of the external environment. This may then be used for different applications.

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: A display is created using “smart pixels.” A smart pixel is a pixel of a display that integrates the pixel pipeline as part of the pixel, rather than using separate integrated circuits. A smart pixel may be based on an integrated stack that includes light emitting elements, an external data contact for receiving digital data for that pixel, and also the pixel pipeline from the digital data to the light emitting elements.

Abstract: An augmented reality system determines the position and orientation of an eye. The system includes an electronic contact lens that projects images onto a user's retina. The contact lens includes magnetic sensors. The magnetic sensors detect magnetic fields along one axis, or more than one axis, depending on their configuration. The sensors may be a conductive coil, a solenoid, or a tunneling magnetoresistance device. The sensors detect magnetic fields generated by magnetic sources. The magnetic sources may be collocated, or non-collocated, on a wearable device, a device in the environment, or a secondary electronic device. The sources may have different orientations such that they produce magnetic fields along different axes, and the sensors are configured to independently detect the magnetic fields. The system determines the pose of the eye using a combination of the measurements, and the position and orientation of the sensors and sources.

Abstract: Operation of an electronic contact lens takes into account saccadic motion of the eye and reduced visual perception during saccades (saccadic suppression). The user's eye motion is tracked, and onset of a saccade is detected based on the eye's motion. For example, saccades may be detected when the eye's acceleration or jerk exceeds a threshold. The endpoint of the saccade is then predicted in real-time while the saccade is still occurring. This may be the temporal endpoint (i.e., when the saccade ends) and/or the positional endpoint (i.e., the eye position at the end of the saccade). Operation of the electronic contact lens is adjusted based on the predicted endpoint.

Abstract: Operation of an electronic contact lens takes into account saccadic motion of the eye and reduced visual perception during saccades (saccadic suppression). The user's eye motion is tracked, and onset of a saccade is detected based on the eye's motion. For example, saccades may be detected when the eye's acceleration or jerk exceeds a threshold. The endpoint of the saccade is then predicted in real-time while the saccade is still occurring. This may be the temporal endpoint (i.e., when the saccade ends) and/or the positional endpoint (i.e., the eye position at the end of the saccade). Operation of the electronic contact lens is adjusted based on the predicted endpoint.

Abstract: An augmented reality system recognizes objects in a user's environment and operates an electronic contact lens based on the recognition. The electronic contact lens includes an integrated femtoimager that captures images corresponding to the user's gaze direction. The augmented reality system recognizes objects in the images and generates visual information relevant to the recognized objects that is presented using a femtoprojector integrated with the electronic contact lens. The visual information may include virtual control elements that the user can interact with to control smart devices. The augmented reality system can also configure various calibration parameters of the electronic contact lens based on a recognized environment associated with the recognized objects.

Abstract: A small imager mounted on a user's eye (referred to as a femtoimager) is coordinated with an external camera. The femtoimager may be contained in a contact lens, and it may be aligned with the gaze a user's eye. The femtoimager and external camera capture images with overlapping views of the external environment. Images from the two imagers may be compared with one another to estimate the femtoimager's view of the external environment relative to the camera's view of the external environment. This may then be used for different applications.

Abstract: A variety of femtoprojector optical systems are described. The optical bodies for the systems may be made in batches by wafer-level optics. Each individual system may be made small enough to fit in a contact lens. In some designs, the optical systems include a solid transparent body with a curved primary mirror, a secondary mirror, an entrance window, an exit window, and at least one groove. The grooves function as a light trap that reduces the amount of stray light exiting the body of the optical system. The grooves may also create a snap point which allows removal of individual bodies from the wafer through controlled breakage. The designs may also include various light blocking, light-redirecting, absorbing coatings, or other types structures to reduce stray light.

Abstract: A small imager mounted on a user's eye (referred to as a femtoimager) is coordinated with an external camera. The femtoimager may be contained in a contact lens, and it may be aligned with the gaze a user's eye. The femtoimager and external camera capture images with overlapping views of the external environment. Images from the two imagers may be compared with one another to estimate the femtoimager's view of the external environment relative to the camera's view of the external environment. This may then be used for different applications.

Abstract: A contact lens having a cap, core, and base forming three layers to allow for the contact lens to be thick enough to accommodate a payload, while ensuring sufficient oxygenation of the wearer's eye. The cap and base are each a thin layer of gas-permeable material, each shaped to form an air gap between them and the core. The two air gaps are connected by air passages that traverse the core. Oxygen from an outside environment passes through the gas-permeable cap to reach the outer air gap, through the air passages to the inner air gap, and through the gas-permeable base to reach the cornea of the wearer's eye. The cap may be annular in form, having a center hole such that the cap does not extend over the central zone of the core, reducing a thickness of the contact lens.

Abstract: An imaging device contained in a contact lens captures images of the external environment, which for convenience will be referred to as real-world images. These real-world images are used to stabilize images produced by a femtoprojector also in the contact lens. For convenience, the images produced by the femtoprojector will be referred to as augmented reality or AR images. The femtoprojector is inward-facing (i.e., facing towards the interior of the eye) and projects the AR images onto the user's retina, creating the appearance of virtual images in the external environment. The imaging device, referred to as a femtoimager for convenience, is outward-facing and captures a sequence of actual real-world images of the external environment. Because the femtoimager and femtoprojector move together, the real-world images captured by the femtoimager reflect the motion of the virtual AR images from the femtoprojector relative to the external environment.

Abstract: An augmented reality system recognizes objects in a user's environment and operates an electronic contact lens based on the recognition. The electronic contact lens includes an integrated femtoimager that captures images corresponding to the user's gaze direction. The augmented reality system recognizes objects in the images and generates visual information relevant to the recognized objects that is presented using a femtoprojector integrated with the electronic contact lens. The visual information may include virtual control elements that the user can interact with to control smart devices. The augmented reality system can also configure various calibration parameters of the electronic contact lens based on a recognized environment associated with the recognized objects.

Abstract: Small optics (femtooptics) may be made with optical metasurfaces or diffractive surfaces. Baffles may be formed in the femtooptics with through-glass-via techniques or a variety of etching strategies. Femtooptics may in addition be made using wafer stacking techniques. Variations and combinations of these approaches lead to femtooptics manufacturable in vast quantities by semiconductor wafer processing techniques, also referred to as wafer level optics.