TIME's Best Inventions of 2008

The Other 49 Best Inventions

University of Washington

24. Bionic Contacts

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The University of Washington's Babak Parviz has created a prototype "bionic" contact lens that creates a display over the wearer's visual field, so images, maps, data, etc., appear to float in midair. The lens works using tiny LEDs, which are powered by solar cells, and a radio-frequency receiver.

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