Eye is second only to brain as the most complex organ in the human body, and its ability to view millions of colours in an intricate mechanism infinitely more complex than a modern-day camera bears testament to nature’s marvel. However, nature’s limits are now being tested in research work carried out by Prof. Babak Parviz of University of Washington. Prof. Parviz claims to have made use of augmented reality in exclusively manufactured contact lenses to produce a superimposed field of vision that could signal an era where the futuristic Cyborg eye of Terminator movies fame will cease to be a fantasy.

Image: Raygun Studio

Prof. Babak Parviz’s revelation published in Spectrum IEEE, in an article authored by the professor himself, discusses how augmented reality and specially built contact lenses on flexible and transparent polymer with miniscule circuits could alter our day-to-day lives. Although imminent use of this is for enhanced vision, he feels that non-intrusive tracking of wearers' bio-markers and health indicators such as blood sugar level could open up a huge future market.

According to Prof. Parviz, his students have already created a lens with a RF powered single LED, integrated in polymer-based contact lenses carrying miniature circuits and antennae. As further progress is made, hundreds of LEDs would be added, enabling images to be seen in front of the eye, a hallmark of augmented reality technology. He feels that in all probability a separate mobile device will be used to transmit the information required for forming images to the lens’s control circuit, in charge of the optoelectronics in the lens.

Prof. Parviz also confirms that his students were successful in building numerous basic sensors that are capable of recognizing a molecule’s concentration and once these sensors are built into the lenses, they allow wireless transmission of data pertaining to the molecule. He explains this with the example of diabetic patients who could monitor their blood sugar level without the need to prick, and with added wireless capability, allow the lens to transmit data wirelessly to medical staff. This would eliminate the need for a traditional lab solution and in the process, lessen the chance of administrative errors.

The work is also not without some mind-boggling technical challenges and Prof. Parviz speaks of three fundamental issues. Firstly the incompatibility of the majority of lens parts and subsystems with each other and lens polymer, solved by creating all devices from scratch. Secondly, the arduous task of miniaturising and integrating key components of the lens into a tiny 1.5 square cms of a flexible polymer, which he feels is yet to be solved satisfactorily. The final challenge concerns the safety of the eye, which he illustrates by pointing to the use of toxic aluminium gallium arsenide in the manufacture of red LEDs, which needs to be encapsulated in a biocompatible material to alleviate the issue.

What is fascinating about this remarkable work is that it opens up a whole new frontier and the Prof. Parviz confidently predicts even more startling uses that include speech translation into real time captions, and visual cues from a navigation system. Prof. Parviz’s vision of the future where the fusion of highly sophisticated, display-capable contact lenses, augmented reality technology and the power of the internet seem an exciting prospect and bring a large portfolio of remarkable uses. Add to that its ability to be life-saving and we have a much needed vision for the future indeed.

There is something peculiar and dramatic about the latest issue of SZ magazine from the trail blazing German Newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). Unbeknownst to many of the 550,000 strong household readerships who will receive this today, the magazine courts print media with the augmented reality (AR) technology to transform what appears to be a traditional print media into an immersive augmented reality experience when viewed through an iPhone, Android or any suitable smartphone that is camera-equipped.

The issue numbered 33 of the SZ magazine will go down in the annals of AR history as the first print media publication to fully embrace augmented reality, a just reward for the reputed magazine that always had the knack for producing something uncanny.  The technology firm behind the effort is Metaio, a German AR developer more known for their junaio augmented reality platform for camera equipped 3G and 4G Mobile device.

In order to experience all of the augmented reality features found in this special SZ Magazine, users are required to download the free junaio augmented reality browser from either the iTunes store or the Android marketplace, and then proceed to activate relevant channels relating to the augmented reality overlay.

Once armed with the right smartphone and having activated SG Channels, the magic is ready to unfold. In the cover of the magazine, popular TV talk show host and journalist Sandra Maischberger is seen hiding her face behind hands. This “Real” world is soon transformed into an “Augmented Reality” world, thanks to the augmented reality overlays viewed through the smartphone camera, where Sandra can now be seen uncovering her face to reveal a happy smile.

As we turn pages there are more encounters of the AR kind, the first one we stumble onto is the "interview without words" where the European Song contest winner Lena Meyer-Landrut is expressing jibes and remarks that appear amazingly as bubble texts in the augmented view. As we go further inside the magazine, the popular Axel Hacke column is seen activating a brilliant 3D animation. As we wind up, we experience something more novel and useful as staff of the SZ Magazine present their favourite spots in Munich, Hamburg and Berlin in a virtual city guide. Readers from those cities are able to use the smartphone to see the augmented reality view in which they will have markers pointing out to restaurants, clubs and hotels in their vicinity.

An augmented reality experience on a cover page of a magazine is not exactly a novel concept, Popular Science came up with what they called as “first interactive 3-D augmented reality magazine cover” in their July 2009 issue in which a PC equipped with webcam was used in conjunction to see the augmented view of the cover, and couple of months later Esquire followed suit with a similar spectacle.  However those efforts pale in comparison to the effort by SG Magazine which has used augmented reality throughout the publication and not just on the cover, and more importantly, has taken the reader to a new realm of quality journalism merged with augmented reality overlay view from camera equipped smartphone for an unforgettable and rich sensory experience.

Magazine cover and page-based augmented reality is something we have considerable experience with, and would love to help you take your brand to the next level. Get in touch.

It almost doesn't need to be said that augmented reality is exploding right now, particularly in its mobile form. Oftentimes, however, its application at grand events, tradeshows and amusement parks bizarrely goes unmentioned. Here's some of the best: