With all the hype around Google Glass over the past year or so, it was only a matter of time before Google refined its research and designs to create similarly hi-tech contact lenses.
Now, the tech giant has actually announced two patents on contact lenses with impressive features, including a tiny, embedded camera and wireless chip built to measure glucose levels in the wearer. The latter is a key part of the design, with Google saying it is focused on designing lenses that make it easier for people to manage diabetes.
Co-founders of the Google Smart Contact Lenses project, Brian Otis and Babak Parviz, announced the company’s plans in January 2014 and say they have been inspired by talking to people who say “managing their diabetes is like a part-time job”.
“Sudden spikes or precipitous drops [in glucose levels] are dangerous and not uncommon, requiring round-the-clock monitoring,” they explain in the Google blog post about these lenses.
“Although some people wear glucose monitors with a glucose sensor embedded under their skin, all people with diabetes must still prick their finger and test drops of blood throughout the day. It’s disruptive, and it’s painful. And, as a result, many people with diabetes check their blood glucose less often than they should.
The project has continued to evolve over the past few months, with news breaking in April that Google has patented two contact lens designs – just as new research estimates the contact lens market will be worth $20.1 billion by 2018.
A report from leading market analyst BCC Research says soft, rigid and hybrid lenses have all experienced positive growth in profits over the past several years.
“The global market for contact lenses grew from $18.7 billion in 2012 to $18.9 billion in 2013,” the report says, predicting a compound annual growth rate of 1.2% between 2013 and 2018.
As well as benefitting contact lens giants like Bausch & Lomb, CIBA Vision and Johnson & Johnson, this news indicates Google is making its move into the market at an opportune time.
The Popularity of Contact Lenses
Image: Loic Le Meur/Flickr
While an influx of thick glasses frames in pop culture and among the geek elite and hipster communities has helped make wearing specs not only acceptable, but also “cool, contact lenses are often a more convenient, flexible option for regular sight correction.
Unlike glasses, which can fog up, get dirty or water-specked, and make it almost impossible to do things like swim or scuba dive, contact lenses sit right on the eye and are often unnoticeable.
BCC Research says that the wide range of styles and the overall appeal of lenses is a key reason this market is soaring into such a bright future.
“Various age groups have now begun to explore the advantages of contact lenses,” the report explains.
“In addition, the market is undergoing significant transformations with respect to innovation, price and target. All these factors have altered the market approach and have led to the steady market for contact lenses.”
As well as consumer interest in contacts, the report says a rise in research and development spending, as well as increasing competition, patent expiries and new technologies, are taking the market in a new direction.
“The advancements, new product launches and the changing lifestyle have influenced the market to grow in the near future.”
While the report was only released in March 2014, and focuses more on established companies within the contact lens industry, it’s clear that Google’s two latest patents and plans will have some impact on the industry.
Already, discussions of the Google Smart Contact Lenses has generated widespread media attention and been met with enthusiasm from consumers.
“I bought smart glass the first day, just switch me to contact,” one commenter on the Google blog post says. Another claims to have already put in an order for contacts, adding that “One day we’ll look back on our #glass and feel the same way we feel about the first brick cell phones. And we’ll blog about it directly by “thinking” our blog post with the chips in our heads.”
Whether or not that happens, it is clear that Google is already carving out a place for itself in this hugely profitable industry.
Contact lenses have come a long way from the hard, glass discs they once were. While there is now a wide range of sophisticated lens options readily available at competitive prices, it also looks like contacts are going to get the same hi-tech treatment as many other items under the gaze of Google developers and other optical innovators out there.
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