Better vision through technology: The day is coming when people will be able to augment their vision with a heads-up display (HUD) or even correct impairments not currently treatable. Whether through glasses, contacts, or ocular implants, this technology is coming.

Tech startup Mojo Vision is designing a contact lens with a built-in high-resolution display. The company already has a prototype that it showcased at CES 2020. The lens will use a combination of technologies to provide an augmented reality HUD that provides detailed information to users about their surroundings.

The prototype only has a green monochromatic screen and it has to be connected to a sizable battery and external processor. Still, the company is hoping to make it fully wireless by the time it is ready for the public. According to The Verge, which got a peek at the prototype, Mojo claims its final ready-for-market lens will have a 14,000ppi display, image sensor, radio, and motion sensor.

It still has a ways to go before it has a workable version, though. Other than refining the tech, Mojo Vision will have to get an endorsement from the US Food and Drug Administration to sell it.

The company claims the smart lens could help those with vision problems, such as macular degeneration, see the environment around them by zooming in or producing highlighted overlays of objects. It could also be programmed to calculate and display distances, speed, and other information while biking or traveling. Either of these applications will also require some sophisticated AI.

For now, the project remains in the early developmental stages, with no timeline for release. The startup has raised over $100 million in funding to complete the lens, but as it is with projects like this, it may never see the light of day (no pun intended).

We have reported on similar products in the past. In 2011, researchers claimed they were testing a display that could be embedded into a contact lens, but no final device came to fruition. Likewise, both Google and Samsung applied for patents on similar technology in 2014 and 2016, respectively, but neither has announced active projects since.