BBC Focus Magazine

[focus_ed]

Debate for magazine: would you wear 'bionic' contact lenses?

They will display emails, text messages and 'augmented reality' information on the world around you. That's the dream of 'bionic' contact lenses, which have been tested on rabbits and found to be safe. There's still some way to go before they'll work on humans, not least finding a suitable source of power. But would you wear them?

Let me know your comments and I'll choose some of the best for the magazine. You can find out more about it at BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15817316/

[Shadowwolf]

Can they glow a deep malevolent red?

If yes then I have no problem. Actually I could see these things quickly garnering visual skins so the user can view the world in variants like Terminator mode, see the world as Matrix code or as some hell spawned nightmare..., oh wait, sorry it already is like that. Think of the extra gubbins, enter images of folks you don't like so that you literally will not see them as they pass on the street or polarise to total dark so as to shield you from terrible danger as some glasses did in the Hitchhikers Guide.

I'd wear em but methinks they would need serious regulation so as thoughtless twits could not operate them whilst driving, possibly not even whilst walking. Plus there be the potential for hacking and augmenting what info is being sent or even removed, you'll never see that seditious material or the police as the sweep an area unless you don't have em in.

[Jamie]

Yep, they look pretty cool. And at least you can remove them - not like some Borg implant.

Just think, you could sit at work, idly watching the latest blockbuster and no-one would know. Unless of, course, you happened to be a surgeon or pilot or something similar

[nemisis39]

Have to be a no from me i can't wear contacts, they have an adverse affect on my eyeballs. Which is a shame really as i've always wanted a look of the aliens from the 70's ufo series , could there be an option of an enclosed spectacle substitute, would be like watch a movie in a 180 degree screen. Of course I couldn’t drive whilst wearing them. I take it that’s it could be integrated into your existing contact lens if you can wear them that is.

[M Paul Lloyd]

I'm in much the same boat as Nemesis.

I've worn spectacles from the age of five but contacts never agreed with me. However I would happily have a pair of spectacles that did the same thing, although I'm left wondering how you would interact with what you were seeing? Information is all very well but will users of such a prosthesis have to engage in strange hand gestures and blinking to open their emails and texts or whatever?

That might just give the game away.

[Isee]

Yep, they look pretty cool. And at least you can remove them - not like some Borg implant.

Just think, you could sit at work, idly watching the latest blockbuster and no-one would know. Unless of, course, you happened to be a surgeon or pilot or something similar

Being a pilot myself I would welcome some telly in between position checks.
But until then have to make do with reading my Focus magazine on the ipad during this boring flight to Australia...

[Willxx]

As far as I am concerned - how can anyone say no!

Anything with the word "Bionic" is an absolute must for someone my age - I grew up wanting to be Steve Austin

[nemisis39]

Being a pilot myself I would welcome some telly in between position checks.
But until then have to make do with reading my Focus magazine on the ipad during this boring flight to Australia

errr who's flying the plane

[M Paul Lloyd]

'George' the autopilot presumably?.

[The Beige Avenger]

Hells yeah I would.

How else am I going to find someone with the same size as mine in clothes, boots and motorcycle?

[Healerman]

Personally, I love the idea.

However, at a more general level...

I reckon that out on the roads, a good quarter of motorists (at the very least) are not paying proper attention to the task in hand. Take a stroll through your local shopping precinct and something like three-quarters of the people there are not paying the slightest attention to where they are going.

These things should only be allowed if there is a legal proviso that collision avoidance software has an overriding priority, with a big red flashing, "Watch where you're going, idiot!" superimposed over any other information.

End of rant.

[Lateralman]

The human brain cannot multi-task. Even though we think, it can.

[nemisis39]

The human brain cannot multi-task. Even though we think, it can.

Try telling my wife that

[MikeG]

I'm sure some enterprising individuals will come up with some good hacks once they enter the public domain. One that comes to mind is using the contacts to display odds in a casino, depending say on cards drawn. There will be uses other than for cheats or scam artists though. For instance! They may be useful in future presidential debates (to avoid Rick Perry like gaffes) when aides can send facts in front of your eyes (not a good example of an honest application). Newscasters can use them, and do away with teleprompters. Or people wanting to impress a date. Go to a Chinese restaurant, and have Google translate running in phonetic mode so you can make small talk with the waiter. There are definitely applications out there for something like this.

[...]

i suppose they do have their dangerous drawbacks, as all new tech does, but you wouldnt need to buy sunglasses anymore and night vision would be possible. But the main plus for me would be the much enhanced stargazing possibilities, being able to view all the spectrum, IR UV gamma xray.....from Planck to the size of the universe.....bring it on

[focus_ed]

Thanks for all the replies - really interesting stuff here. Look out for a lot of them in the February issue. A bigger 'Big Debate' than usual.

Cheers,

Graham

[M Paul Lloyd]

To serve is its own reward Oh Great one.

[Liam Sheppard]

Yeah they would be cool,

And if you could add a 'shallow hal' app, then desperate people with unrealistic standards can turn it on go out an pull a babe! heh heh...

I would like to make grey days dull, 'rose tinted' if you will.

[Colm]

OK I would find it impossible to focus on something against my eye... How would that work? Or am I the only one?

[M Paul Lloyd]

I think it would be more of a holographic projection into your 'reading distance' environment Colm rather than something you would have to view close-up, at least that's my take on it.