Sony joins Google & Samsung in filing patent for smart contact lens that takes photos

There are now three technology companies that have filed patents for smart contact lenses after Sony joined Samsung and Google. The planned connected lenses would allow the user to take photos by just blinking the eye.

The image is then stored and sent to a wireless gadget such as a computer, smartphone or tablet, reports Mashable. The lens would have a device similar to the smartphone that would command it to capture an image.

To make that possible, blinking would enable a light sense on the lens to detect eyelid movement. According to the patent, the lenses are capable of zooming, focusing and changing the aperture to improve photo quality.

It would have a display feature, allowing the user to view the photos captured. The Sony lens would have an “on” and “off” switch so it would not take a photo or trigger the smartphone every time the user blinks. “In the case where the user presses an end of his/her eyelid in a state in which the eyelid is closed, such press is sensed by the piezoelectric [pressure] sensor, and thus the switch can be turned on,” reads the patent.

However, Mashable is asking how Sony could pack all those technology into something as tiny as contact lenses.

In early April, Samsung filed a patent in South Korea for a smart contact lens which would have a camera and image display. It would have sensors which can control certain functions by blinking. Google has two similar patents which it filed in 2014, reports IFLScience.