Google Inc. has applied for a patent that focuses on fitting a camera into a contact lens.
The camera would allow lens users to process different types of data that can be sent to a connected smartphone.
This technology is part of the search engine's smart contact-lens project, which was first announced last year, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The company applied for the patent in 2012, which was published this month by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The patent includes an outline of fitting the camera into the contact lens so that its thickness is not increased significantly. The camera would collect data from the user's surroundings, which includes light, objects, faces, colors and motion, Top Tech News reported.
Google's camera can also extend the user's eyesight, giving the person a wider view, as well as the ability to zoom in.
The lens will capture images based on the eye movements of the user, such as blinking. Users can locally or remotely control the processing of the images with a tablet or a cell phone, American University Intellectual Property Brief reported.
The technology also has the potential to help blind people with certain activities, such as using the surroundings to let the person know when it is ok to cross the street. The facial recognition and zoom-in features can also put the contact lens to use for law enforcement.
The lens has other potential uses, such as feeding the images into a database for ID matching, which could help people recognize friends without saying anything, FierceMobileHealthcare reported. The technology can get rid of the need for binoculars with the zoom-in feature, and also monitor a body's vital signs.
The patent states that the Google contact lens computer could use more than one camera, and "communication interaction may be coupled wirelessly, while power supply interactions may be coupled via wire."
Google now has seven patents that will be used for research of the contact lens.
