Imagine a world where you look across
the street and get directions
or see information on your heart rate
while cycling without looking down.
All could be possible with smart contact lenses,
a sci-fi-movie scenario that's becoming
more and more of a reality.
Samsung, Google, and Sony have experimented
with smart contact lenses since 2014,
with hopes of them taking photos and video
with a blink of an eye
or measuring your glucose levels.
And today, dedicated US optics companies
are testing their prototypes,
some that could display notifications
like how your smartphone would
or give you timely information
without interrupting your focus.
Mike Wiemer: Whether you're a delivery person
or somebody working to put parts together,
being able to have those directions
in a eyes-up and hands-free environment is important.
Surgeons with real-time biometrics of the patient.
There are some retail prototypes that we're looking at.
Can someone be able to interact with a customer,
or just eyes up in the moment, making eye contact,
and yet know that, that thing that they're asking about,
there are actually two more back in the stockroom?
Narrator: This all sounds cool,
but we're still years away
from getting these contact lenses into our eyes.
Why?
It all comes down to the tech,
medical approval, and market value.
Let's start with the tech,
which has to be really tiny.
Ashley Tuan: If you asked me 10 years ago,
I would say that's impossible for you
to put the kind of electronics you'd need in a contact lens.
Narrator: Nanotechnology for smart contact lenses
wasn't readily available until the early 2000s.
But even with the technology,
implementing it comes with challenges.
Tuan: This concept is straightforward.
I think the most difficult part is to figure out,
how do you do engineering to put everything together?
Narrator: So, companies have to carefully consider
which type of contact lens to use as their base
and build the technology from there.
Mojo Vision uses a scleral lens
with all the technology embedded inside the lens
and a wearable neck device as the processor,
while Innovega uses a soft lens
with a polarizer filter that pairs with glasses
that handle most of the technology.
But each type of contact lens
comes with its own difficulties.
Tuan: We've identified that the best
contact-lens platform to meet our need
is the scleral-lens platform
because of the rigidity of it
is actually protective to your eye,
and it provides the stability once it's on eye.
It's not popular because
it has been difficult to manufacture.
Every lens, you can consider it being custom made.
So it takes more time to fit the lens
and takes more time to make the lens.
However, in recent years,
scleral lens became more popular again
because they realized that now it's easier to make,
now it's easier to fit.
Narrator: Meanwhile, at Innovega...
Jerome Legerton: We started with a scleral lens,
which is a hard shell.
The difficulty that was perceived was so great,
but then we really saw the value,
and it needs to be a soft lens.
And that even took us
in a different path with the polarizer.
Narrator: After figuring out the manufacturing issues
and the tech behind the polarizer,
both companies had to make sure
their contact lenses were...
Tuan: Superior performance, gas permeable.
Legerton: Biocompatible.
Narrator: Which leads us to the next challenge,
medical approval.
Since these smart contact lenses
are considered a medical device,
they need to be approved by the FDA.
Legerton: If we're making the claim,
then we have to prove we do that.
Tuan: You try to figure out if there
is anything that could be potentially harmful.
Narrator: After verifying the physical
and chemical properties of the lens material
through multiple preclinical tests,
the companies can move on to clinical trials.
Tuan: And then there's specific
animal testing that you need to do.
And those, we are looking at ocular irritation,
or you're looking at skin sensitivity.
If everything's passed,
then we can consider for humans on eye testing.
Narrator: Currently, this is where both companies are at.
Legerton: But we've been conducting a number
of the phase two clinicals to verify our design
and compare it to other marketed lenses
so that we know where it is.
Tuan: We'll debate what's the worst-case scenario,
and we mitigate the risk to as low as it can be.
And then we look at whether it is comfortable,
whether the functionality is working as intended,
and it has been really incredible experience.
Narrator: The last challenge is effectively
introducing this product to the market.
A few reasons Google Glass wasn't popular
was because of its high price tag, awkward display,
and video-recording capabilities.
But Mojo Vision and Innovega
are not in a rush to appeal to the masses.
They are helping a specific market first
and then growing from there.
Legerton: The first customers are the visually impaired.
The next customers would be in sports analytics
and sports performance enhancement,
where people need their hands free,
but yet want the information readily available.
Wiemer: Hospitality-slash- entertainment is interested,
automobile market is interested,
retail is interested.
I think what we need to do
is demonstrate our ability to deliver
and the market's desire to use it,
even on a, relatively speaking, small scale.
And if we can do that,
we earn the right to continue.
And if we continue to earn the right to continue,
I think we've got a whole new category
to explore over, you know, decades or something.
Narrator: Mojo Vision hasn't come up
with a price tag or release date yet,
but Innovega says its smart contact lens
could receive market clearance by the end of 2021.
Its smart contact lens could cost about
the same as daily disposable lenses,
and its glasses could be anywhere
from $3,000 to $5,000.
But the company expects the price to decrease over time
once it can produce larger quantities.
Wiemer: In the years working on this topic,
I really believe this,
that smart contact lenses are a thing.
There isn't a product
that you can go out and buy right now,
but I can tell you, there will be.
Michelle Yan: Currently, both companies still need
another device to pair with their smart contact lenses,
and Innovega even plans
to keep their glasses in the long run.
But this is the most progress that we've seen so far.
So, what do you think?
Would you wear smart contact lenses?
What are some of your concerns?
Let us know in the comments,
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