Hamburg - German scientists have invented eyeglasses with in-the-lens computer data sensors like those used in popular science- fiction films and series such as "Star Trek," "The Terminator" and James Bond movies. But unlike those devices - and also unlike existing in-visor read-outs used by jet pilots - the head-mounted displays (HMDs) being developed by the experts at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) in Dresden are interactive, rather than passive display systems.
The data eyeglasses can read from an engineer's eyes (for example) which details he needs to see on building plans. A computer chip with an eye tracker in the micro-display makes this possible. The eyeglasses are connected to a PDA which displays information and responds to commands.
The 19-millimeter-by-17-millimeter chip is so small that it fits on the hinge of a set of modified glasses. It projects the display image directly onto the wearer's retina and monitors the position of the user's eyeball, according to a statement by the research institute.
The wearer sees a high-resolution, high-contrast image that appears to be floating a metre in front of him. For example, the wearer flicks his eyes to the right to change a page, or scans downwards to scroll through a list in order to give the computer instructions - thus freeing up his hands for other operations.
The German researchers say they envision the interactive data eyeglasses being used by surgeons performing delicate medical procedures. The surgeons will "see" and manipulate data while never having to take their fingers off of instruments - and never having to take their eyes off the patient, for that matter.
"In industry and in the medical field, the interactive data eyeglasses could enable numerous tasks to be performed more simply, efficiently and precisely,"says Dr Michael Scholles, business unit manager at the institute.
"Many scenarios are possible, including patients' vital functions, MRT and X-ray images for the operating surgeon, construction drawings for erection engineers and installation instructions for service technicians," he adds.
Some users have already tried out conventional HMDs, but the results were not very impressive. In most cases they were found to be too expensive, too heavy, too bulky and not very ergonomic.
"We have now overcome these hurdles," says Scholles.
With his team and colleagues from other Fraunhofer institutes he is already working on the next development stage of the bidirectional eyeglasses.
They will transport the wearer into virtual worlds or provide the user with data from the real environment. At present these devices can only display information.
"We want to make the eyeglasses bidirectional and interactive so that new areas of application can be opened up," says Dr Scholles.
Scholles believes that the bidirectional data eyeglasses will yield advantages wherever people need to consult additional information but do not have their hands free to operate a keyboard or mouse.
The Dresden-based researchers have integrated their system's eye tracker and image reproduction on a CMOS chip. This makes the HMDs small, light, easy to manufacture and inexpensive.
