September 22, 2009

Putting the “Eye” in iPhone

by University of Washington

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How’s this for creepy: University of Washington engineers have manufactured some distinctly sci-fi contact lenses with the potential to radically alter the way wearers see the world. So far, the lenses contain a single LED, but the inventors say their brainchild could soon be projecting words, pictures and other information just in front of your iris. This, on the heels of several recent advances in augmented reality, seems like it’s making the tech dreams of futuristic flicks like Iron Man a reality, complete with jet-pack propulsion and fashion that favors the metallic.  

The practical applications abound, but the creepy Terminator factor is still relatively high, especially when you see the pictures. And then there’s the marketing strategy. According to the authors: 

We already see a future in which the humble contact lens becomes a real platform, like the iPhone is today, with lots of developers contributing their ideas and inventions.

Apps for your eye? Heaven forfend!  

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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