As a veterinary futurist, here are my predictions regarding contact lenses…
Regardless of vision status, virtually everyone will learn to wear contact lenses. It will be a step up from earbuds plus wristwatch, but a step down from electrodes implanted in your brain. By then, nanotechnology will allow incorporation into the lenses of both microprocessors and solar energy, so they never need recharging. Like we learned the mouse, we’ll learn combinations of eye rolls and blinks to control web pages and images projected in spectacular detail on the closed inner eyelids. Stare at a QR code with open eyes, then close them to see and navigate the website.
Wireless connection to ear buds will provide the audiovisual experience of the metaverse, making the old-fashioned virtual reality facemasks as extinct as mobile phones and notebook computers. Instead of a “long touch” we’ll learn a “long look” to access menus. Blink will replace click. Touching your watch will zoom in and out with eyes open or closed, and voice controls can supplement when needed. Virtual reality experiences from inside your eyelids and ear canals will astound.
Veterinarians who would otherwise wear glasses will appreciate viewing microscopes, ophthalmoscopes, refractometers, endoscopes, and other devices that use an optical interface. You’ll be better able to identify microscopic sediment, parasites, bacteria, tumor cells, etc. If in doubt, overlay any reference in existence or triple blink to capture what you are seeing, then send it to the lab in stereoscopic still or 3D video. Naturally, with eyes open, you can also capture still or video images for the medical record. Call up an image from a previous exam years earlier. Add dictation or thought-capture interpretation of images as a deposit to your intellectual property digital memory bank. The lenses will offer augmented reality to overlay Xray normals for comparison or get real-time consultation in surgery or during special procedures.
The lenses will provide personal and animal health info like tear production, heart rhythm, body temperature, gas and fluid chemistry assessments, retinal imaging, and blood or eye pressure. Lenses might deliver eye and other medication, then recharge overnight. Imagine calling up name and background on any face you see. During hiking, access topo maps and learn about every plant and animal. Humans will finally have better night vision than animals. It will be fun!
Rolan
