Ideas
Explore the world's #1 largest database of ideas and innovations, with 480,597 inspiring examples.
Trend Reports
Discover why 1,297 brands rely on our AI-powered Trend Reports to get better, faster insights.
Newsletter
Join 104,008 subscribers who rely on our weekly newsletter to keep up with need-to-know trends and insights.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Consumer Insights
Uncover major shifts and emerging opportunities with our exclusive PRO research.
Trend Reports
Discover why 1,297 brands rely on our AI-powered Trend Reports to get better, faster insights.
Newsletter
Join 104,008 subscribers who rely on our weekly newsletter to keep up with need-to-know trends and insights.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Advisory & Services
Accelerate innovation and ignite disruptive thinking with our award-winning programs and research.
Trend Reports
Get fast, customized trend reports, presentations and deep dives 20x faster than traditional research.
Plans
Get started today with a free consultation, our self-serve tools, or a dedicated program.
Articles & Magazine
Get inspired with our 4,233 innovation strategy articles, keynote, videos and innovation tools.
Innovation Awards
Trend Hunter’s Innovation Strategy Awards recognize the best innovation tactics gathered from our interviews with some of the world's most notable business leaders, authors and change makers.
Advisory & Services
Accelerate innovation and ignite disruptive thinking with our award-winning programs and research.
Innovation Assessment
Enhance your innovation potential with a deeper understanding of your unique innovation archetype and how your organization benchmarks.
FuturistU
Prepare for the years ahead with 100+ lessons, tactics, tools and frameworks with our full learning database.
Innovation Books
Join 20,000,000 people getting better and faster with our New York Times Bestselling books and keynote videos.
Jeremy Gutsche
Ignite your event or virtual event with our CEO, a NY Times Bestselling Author and one of the top innovation keynote speakers.
Our Team of Speakers & Virtual Presenters
Inspire your group with our most popular speakers on innovation, trends, change and futurism.
Custom Training & Events
Bring the Future Festival experience directly to your team or co-hosted custom event.
Custom Masterclasses
Join the world's leading brands who leverage our custom programs to accelerate innovation.
FuturistU 5-Day Program
Become a Futurist with our immersive 5-Day program at Future Festival World Summit.
Online eLearning
Learn the fundamentals of futurism and trends with 100+ online courses about innovation.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
Contact
Get in touch to learn more, ask a question or submit a tip.
About Us
Learn more about Trend Hunter and how we accelerate innovation.
Follow-Us
Join our 3,500,000 social media followers, on the cutting edge.
How to Hunt
Learn more about how to hunt megatrends, ideas, patterns and opportunity.
FAQ
Get answers to common questions about Trend Hunter.
Community
Stay on the cutting-edge with the help of the Trend Hunter community.
Team
Meet the team trusted by hundreds of leading businesses worldwide.
Jobs
Find opportunities to accelerate your career with the #1 Trend Firm.
News
Catch up on noteworthy Trend Hunter news and media mentions.
Join
Build a portfolio and put your trend-spotting abilities to the test.
Advertising
Supercharge your marketing by partnering with Trend Hunter.
Portfolio
Visit your public portfolio and browse your past articles.
Add a Trend
Write up an article and showcase your trend-spotting skills.
My Trends
Edit your articles and see how they stack up on the leaderboards.
Settings
Edit your profile, connect your social media accounts, and more.
Add a trend, customize your dashboard, or track topics.
Future Festival
Innovation Events
Join the world's top innovators at our in person events.
Free Webinars
Learn to innovate through chaos, navigate the new normal and maintain work culture from home.
Custom Training & Events
Bring the Future Festival experience directly to your team or co-hosted custom event.
Search our database of 480,597 cutting edge ideas.

Pentagon Wants To Pimp Soldiers Eyes

Clean the Sky - Positive Eco Trends & Breakthroughs

'Videogame' Style Contact Lenses

— March 23, 2008 — Unique
Trend Hunter has covered bionic contact lenses before, but now the Pentagon wants in the game:

Today's technology allows soldiers with advanced gear to see digital maps through helmet-mounted monocles and pilots to get information on heads-up displays. But the latest project from DARPA, the Pentagon's blue sky science and technology division, will enable troops to see an info-"augmented" reality all around them, via contact lenses that provide "first-person shooter-type video game" environments.

The agency's Information Processing Techniques Office announced that it's looking for information on "the creation of micro- and nano-scale display technologies for the purpose of creating displays that could be worn as transparent contact lenses."

If this seems too far-fectched or in the far-off future for you, they expect the technology to be ready in "three to five years."

The Pentagon release notes, "A limiting factor to un-tethered augmented and/or mixed reality applications is the bulkiness, power consumption, cost, limited resolution, and limited field of view of head-mounted displays. DARPA seeks to leap beyond incremental, evolutionary enhancement of head-mounted display technologies to a see-through contact lens on which images can be displayed. This information might be command-and-control information, not unlike information provided to players of first-person, shooter-type video games or synthetic entities and effects in a live training environment."

Trend Themes
1. Microtechnology-display Augmented Reality - Developing microtechnology display to be worn as transparent contact lenses that would offer an augmented reality, can be a leading technology for a new wave of immersive entertainment and also a game-changing head-up display in several industries such as aviation or automotive.
2. Bionic Contact Lenses - Creating bionic contact lenses that can provide heads-up display or direct output from micro-sensors can revolutionize prosthesis fields and wearable health-tech.
3. First-person Shooter-type Game Environment - Developing technology that provides an augmented reality resembling the environment of a first-person shooter-type game, could have game-changing implications for military training and simulation industries.
Industry Implications
1. Military - The use of see-through contact lenses could change the landscape of military training and simulation.
2. Health Technology - People with weak sight can use bionic lenses to support eye health by providing direct output from micro-sensors embedded in the lens.
3. Gaming - The development of first-person shooter-type game environment through contact lenses could launch a new wave of immersive gaming, offering consumers experiences beyond the capability of traditional consoles or VR headsets.
5.8
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness