METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR AN AUDIO INTERFACE FOR PORTABLE DATA PROCESSING UNITS

Abstract

Procedure, comprehensive: Receiving an acoustic signal from a user (210) through a wearable contact lens (230) during a listening mode, wherein the wearable contact lens (230) is positioned on one eye (226) of the user (210) during reception; Connecting, from the wearable contact lens (230) and via a personal network connection, to a coupled data processing unit (240, 250) of the user (210); and Transmission of the acoustic signal from the portable contact lens (230) via the personal network connection to the user's coupled data processing unit (240, 250) (210).

Description

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present disclosure relates to wearable computing and, more particularly, to an audio interface in a contact lens.

[0002] Wearable computing devices may comprise one or more computing devices worn on or within a user's body. Wearable computing devices may be configured to send or receive signals to or from a person or other coupled computing devices. Wearable computing devices may need to be located near or adjacent to specific parts of a user's body to receive signals from a user without interfering with the user's perception and movement.

[0003] In this context, document US 2016 / 0 062 150 A1 is already known. It describes a pair of contact lenses and an associated storage medium, allowing the contact lenses to be operated in cooperation with each other. The contact lenses have different functional units.

[0004] Despite this development, there is still a need to equip contact lenses with additional functions. SUMMARY

[0005] This object is achieved by the subject matter of the independent patent claims. Further embodiments emerge from the respective dependent patent claims. According to embodiments, a method, a system, and a computer program product are disclosed. An acoustic signal is received by a wearable contact lens. The acoustic signal is received by a user. The receiving during a listening mode. The wearable contact lens is located next to an eye of the user during receiving. A connection is established from the wearable contact lens to a coupled computing device of the user. The connection is established via a personal network connection. The acoustic signal is transmitted from the wearable contact lens to the coupled computing device of the user via the personal network connection.

[0006] The foregoing summary is not intended to describe every illustrated embodiment or every implementation of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The drawings included in this application are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification. They illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. The drawings merely illustrate certain embodiments and do not limit the disclosure. Fig. 1 shows the typical major components of an exemplary computer system that may be used in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure; Fig. 2 illustrates an exemplary system for performing voice-assisted computing using a wearable contact lens in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; Fig. 3A illustrates an outer surface of an exemplary lens configured to receive acoustic signals in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; Fig. 3B shows an inner surface of the exemplary lens configured to receive acoustic signals in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure; and Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary method for receiving acoustic signals and responding to user commands in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure.

[0008] While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, the details thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the intention is not to limit the invention to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wearable computing; more specific aspects relate to an audio interface in a contact lens. While the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to such applications, various aspects of the disclosure may be understood through a discussion of various examples using this context.

[0010] Wearable computing is becoming an increasingly popular way to interact with and use computing devices. Wearable computing may involve the operation or interaction of a portable computer located next to or within a user. Wearable computers ("wearables") may include a processor, main memory, and one or more sensors or inputs / outputs configured or shaped to be worn. Often, wearables are configured to be interacted with by the user using one or more interfaces that are separate or distinct from other computing interfaces.For example, a desktop, laptop, or smartphone computing device (“non-wearables”) may include a screen, keyboard, mouse, speakers, touchscreens, or other relevant input / output interaction interfaces (“interaction interfaces”).

[0011] While the interaction interfaces of non-wearables can be useful and effective, there are also disadvantages. Non-wearables may only be useful or practical in limited situations or use cases. For example, to use a non-wearable, a user may have to sit at a desk, put down their work, and type on a keyboard. In another example, to use a non-wearable, a user may have to spend time and effort holding, viewing, and interacting with the computing devices.

[0012] However, wearable computers have disadvantages when it comes to interaction interfaces. A user may want to perform data processing interactions, such as looking up data or accessing data based on the environment. For example, a user may want to learn information about a book or magazine, such as the people depicted in front of the device. The user using a non-wearable device may have to type many words or phrases to search for or look up information about the magazine. The wearable device may have a smaller screen or may not have a keyboard at all to provide input.

[0013] An emerging computing platform in the field of wearable computing is smart contact lenses ("smart lenses"). A smart lens can be a contact lens worn on or near the surface of a user's eye. The smart lens can be a contact lens that provides vision correction. The smart lens can be a lens that does not provide vision correction. The smart lens can have embedded computing power and be capable of observing a user's environment. For example, one or more cameras located within the smart lens may be capable of capturing images or videos. The smart lens may be capable of providing augmented reality to a user.For example, one or more displays embedded in the smart lens may be capable of rendering text or graphics and arranging them in a composite view alongside the user's real-world surroundings. One drawback of smart lenses is that they may not be able to receive input from a user.

[0014] Voice-assisted computing systems may offer several advantages for use with wearable computing. Voice-assisted systems may include a microphone and be connected to a computing device for data exchange. For example, a smart home assistant may be positioned in a user's environment and configured to receive voice commands and provide responses to a user. In another example, a smartphone may have a built-in microphone that may be configured to receive voice commands from a user. In yet another example, a headset or lapel microphone may be worn by a user. Voice-assisted systems may have disadvantages when used with smart lenses.For example, a smart home assistant may be a stationary computing device in an environment, potentially useful only in limited scenarios where a user is in the same room as the smart home assistant or in close proximity. Another disadvantage is that a voice-assisted system may be cumbersome or awkward to use. For example, a headset may not be useful in environments such as a gym or workout area if a user doesn't want to remember to wear the headset or if using a headset is functionally difficult.

[0015] A voice-capable contact lens (VCCL) may provide advantages over other smart lenses. A VCCL may be a wearable contact lens worn by a user. In particular, the VCCL may be worn on the eye or adjacent to the ocular surface. The lens may be shaped and configured to correct, alter, or otherwise adjust the user's vision. In some embodiments, the VCCL may not be configured to adjust the user's vision. For example, the shape, thickness, or other light- and / or focus-adjusting properties of the VCCL lens may be sized and shaped to allow or enable the user's environment to pass through to the eye without altering or changing the user's vision.

[0016] A VCCL can function by receiving one or more sounds from the user's environment. In particular, the VCCL can include a microphone, a voice coil, or other relevant transceiver. The microphone can be located on the surface of the VCCL. The VCCL can also include a processor and a main memory. The processor and the main memory can be connected to the microphone for data exchange. The VCCL can receive an acoustic signal from a person wearing the contact lens (e.g., the user). The VCCL's microphone can be configured to transmit the received sounds to a processor of the VCCL.

[0017] The VCCL can further transmit the acoustic signal (e.g., audio, tones, voice, sound waves) to a coupled computing device. For example, the VCCL can further comprise a network connection. The VCCL can be configured to connect to a smartphone via the network connection. After receiving audio signals, the VCCL can transmit the received audio signals to a coupled computing device for processing. For example, a user can be standing in the basement of a three-story building and want to control a speaker on the third floor that is connected to the network. The user can verbally utter "play music in the bedroom," and the VCCL's microphone can receive the acoustic signal containing the verbal utterance. The VCCL can then transmit this utterance to a smartphone connected to the network connection.The smartphone can respond to the utterance by performing processing to successfully process the request. In particular, the smartphone can, for example, transmit a command via a local network to the network-connected speaker on the third floor, whereupon the network-connected speaker can begin playing music.

[0018] In some embodiments, the VCCL may be configured to perform natural language processing. For example, a VCCL may transmit an instruction to a coupled computing device to perform natural language processing. Natural language processing may include various operations by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. For example, natural language processing may operate on one or more data sources, a search application, and a report analysis program. The natural language processing may be a computer module that analyzes the received content and other information from a processor located in a VCCL or a coupled computing device. Natural language processing may include performing various methods and techniques for analyzing textual information (e.g.,syntactic analysis, semantic analysis, etc.). Natural language processing may be configured to recognize and analyze any number of natural languages. In some embodiments, natural language processing may syntactically analyze passages of documents or content from a microphone or a lens worn on or in a user's eye. Various software and / or hardware components (not shown) for natural language processing may include, but are not limited to, a tokenizer, a part-of-speech (POS) tagger, a semantic relationship identifier, and a syntactic relationship identifier. Natural language processing may include a support vector machine (SVM) generator to process the content of topics found in a corpus and to rank the topics.

[0019] In some embodiments, the tokenizer may be a computer module that performs lexical analysis. The tokenizer may convert a sequence of characters into a sequence of tokens. A token may be a string of characters contained in an utterance, an audio signal, or a transcribed electronic document ("electronic document"). For example, an utterance may be converted from an audio signal into an electronic document, and the electronic document may be converted into characters that are categorized and given meaning. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the tokenizer may detect word boundaries in an electronic document and decompose any passage of text within the document into its constituent text elements, such as words, multi-word tokens, numbers, and punctuation marks.In some embodiments, the tokenizer may receive a string, identify the lexemes in the string, and categorize them into tokens.

[0020] In accordance with various embodiments, the POS tagger may be a computer module that marks a word in utterances to correspond to a particular part of speech. The POS tagger may read an electronic document or other natural language text and assign a part of speech to each word or other token. The POS tagger may determine the part of speech to which a word (or other text element) corresponds based on the definition of the word and the context of the word. The context of a word may be based on its relationship to neighboring and related words in a phrase, sentence, or audio signal.

[0021] In some embodiments, the context of a word may depend on one or more previously analyzed electronic documents. Examples of parts of speech that may be assigned to words include, but are not limited to, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and the like. Examples of other part-of-speech categories that the POS tagger may assign include, but are not limited to, comparative or superlative adverbs, wh-adverbs, connectives, determiners, negative particles, possessive markers, prepositions, wh-pronouns, and the like. In some embodiments, the POS tagger may tag or otherwise annotate tokens of a passage with part-of-speech categories. In some embodiments, the POS tagger may tag tokens or words of a passage to be syntactically analyzed by the natural language processing system.

[0022] In some embodiments, the semantic relationship identifier may be a computer module that may be configured to identify semantic relationships of recognized text elements (e.g., words, word sequences) in electronic documents and audio signals. In some embodiments, the semantic relationship identifier may determine functional dependencies between entities and other semantic relationships.

[0023] In accordance with various embodiments, the syntactic relationship identifier may be a computer module that may be configured to identify syntactic relationships in a tokenized passage. The syntactic relationship identifier may determine the grammatical structure of sentences, such as which word groups are assigned as word sequences and which word is the subject or object of a verb. The syntactic relationship identifier may correspond to formal grammar.

[0024] In some embodiments, the natural language processor may be a computer module that can parse an utterance of an audio signal stored in an electronic document and generate corresponding data structures for one or more portions of the electronic document. For example, in response to receiving a request from a carrier of a VCCL, a processor may perform natural language processing and output parsed text elements from the data. In some embodiments, a parsed text element may be represented in the form of a parse tree or other graphical structure.To generate the syntactically analyzed text element, natural language processing may trigger computer modules including the tokenizer, the part-of-speech (POS) tagger, the SVM generator, the semantic relationship identifier, and the syntactic relationship identifier.

[0025] In some embodiments, the VCCL may be configured to detect emotions of a wearer. Specifically, each lens may include one or more external sensors, such as a wide-angle camera or a pressure sensor. The sensors may monitor the user's emotions by detecting a facial expression. The detected sensor data may be provided to one or more secondary computing units, such as a virtual reality ("VR") headset (not shown). The sensor data may be used by the VR headset for gaming or to create a virtual character, such as an avatar. The sensors may be infrared emitters configured to emit beams around the surface of a user's face to obtain sensor data for determining facial expressions.

[0026] The sensor data can be used in combination with the acoustic signals. For example, a user may utter a voice command, and the acoustic utterance and facial sensor data can be transmitted to a smartphone to process the command and detect a context of the command. The context can indicate priority. For example, a user may have an alarmed or stressed facial expression, which can indicate that the command has a higher priority. The sensor data can be used to determine or form behavioral patterns or preferences of the user. In particular, the sensor data acquired by the VCCL can be recorded along with data and used to preserve, record, or otherwise capture a user's emotional state while performing one or more tasks in a real-world environment.For example, a user can instruct a camera to take a picture by uttering an audible utterance such as "Take picture." At the same time as the utterance, the user may smile. The VCCL can detect the smile and the utterance, and an image of the surroundings can be captured by a coupled computing unit. The computing unit can assign the emotion "happy" to the captured image.

[0027] The VCCL can be configured to respond to specific eye, eyelid, or other gestures (e.g., a camera embedded in the VCCL that captures a user's hand or arm movements). In particular, a user can control when a voice command is executed using an eyelid movement. The VCCL can continuously track a pattern of eye, gaze, and / or eyelid movement, and based on the pattern of eyelid movement, the user can park a previously issued voice command, reprioritize the voice command, etc. For example, the user may be in the process of executing a gesture. In addition to receiving acoustic signals transmitted to a coupled computing unit, the performed gesture can be recognized by the VCCL. A priority can be assigned based on the recognized gesture. A priority can be adjusted based on a gesture.For example, the VCCL can be configured to assign a default priority to all received acoustic signals. If a user blinks both eyes and the VCCL detects the blink, the priority of the received acoustic signal can be adjusted to have a lower or higher priority. Before the priority is sent to the paired computing device, the VCCL can assign or adjust it, such as overriding the priority from default to low or high, based on the detected blink gesture.

[0028] Fig. 1 shows the typical major components of an exemplary computer system 100 (alternatively, computer) that may be used according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be appreciated that individual components may vary in complexity, number, type, and / or configuration. The particular examples disclosed are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily the only such variations. Computer system 100 may include a processor 110, a main memory 120, an input / output interface (herein, I / O or I / O interface) 130, and a main bus 140. Main bus 140 may provide data transmission paths for the other components of computer system 100. In some embodiments, main bus 140 may be connected to other components, such as a specialized digital signal processor (not shown).

[0029] The processor 110 of the computer system 100 may include one or more cores 112A, 112B, 112C, 112D (collectively, 112). The processor 110 may additionally include one or more memory buffers or caches (not shown) that provide temporary storage of instructions and data for the cores 112. The cores 112 may execute instructions based on input provided from the caches or from main memory 120 and output the result to caches or to main memory. The cores 112 may include one or more circuits configured to perform one or more methods consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the computer system 100 may include multiple processors 110. In some embodiments, the computer system 100 may be a single processor 110 having a single core 112.

[0030] The main memory 120 of the computer system 100 may include a memory controller 122. In some embodiments, the main memory 120 may include a semiconductor random access memory, a storage device, or a storage medium (either volatile or non-volatile) for storing data and programs. In some embodiments, the main memory may be embodied in the form of modules (e.g., DIMM memory modules, Dual In Line Memory Modules). The memory controller 122 may communicate with the processor 110, enabling storage and retrieval of data in the main memory 120. The memory controller 122 may communicate with the I / O interface 130, enabling storage and retrieval of inputs and outputs in the main memory 120.

[0031] The I / O interface 130 may include an I / O bus 150, a terminal interface 152, a memory interface 154, an I / O device interface 156, and a network interface 158. The I / O interface 130 may connect the main bus 140 to the I / O bus 150. The I / O interface 130 may route instructions and data from the processor 110 and main memory 120 to the various interfaces of the I / O bus 150. The I / O interface 130 may also route instructions and data from the various interfaces of the I / O bus 150 to the processor 110 and main memory 120. The various interfaces may include the terminal interface 152, the memory interface 154, the I / O device interface 156, and the network interface 158. In some embodiments, the various interfaces may comprise a subset of the aforementioned interfaces (e.g.an embedded computer system in an industrial application may not include the terminal interface 152 and the memory interface 154).

[0032] Logic modules throughout computer system 100—including, but not limited to, main memory 120, processor 110, and I / O interface 130—may report failures and changes in one or more components to a hypervisor or operating system (not shown). The hypervisor or operating system may allocate the various resources available in computer system 100 and track the location of data in main memory 120 and processes assigned by the various cores 112. In embodiments that combine or rearrange elements, aspects and functions of the logic modules may be combined or distributed differently. These variations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

[0033] Fig. 2 shows an example system 200 for performing voice-assisted computing using a wearable contact lens in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The wearable contact lens may be a VCCL in accordance with some embodiments. The system 200 may be part of a real-world scenario. Specifically, a user 210 may have limbs 212 (e.g., an arm) and a head 220. The head 220 of the user 210 may include one or more facial features, including a mouth 222, a nose 224, and two eyes 226-1 and 226-2 (collectively, eyes 226). The eyes 226 may include eyelids, such as an eyelid 228-1 and an eyelid 228-2 for eyes 226-1 and 226-2, respectively.

[0034] The VCCL may include two voice-activated contact lenses 230-1 and 230-2 (collectively, lenses 230-1 and 230-2 are referred to as VCCL 230). The VCCL 230 may include two microphones 232-1 and 232-2 (collectively, microphones 232). The microphones 232 may be made of a material suitable for responding based on acoustic signals. For example, the microphones 232 may consist of an appropriate configuration of components (e.g., a transducer element or capsule and a diaphragm or voice coil). The microphones 232 may be translucent, transparent, or nearly transparent—in particular, the configuration of the components may be transparent. The material of the microphones 232 may be selected from one or more of the following: fluoropolymers, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), hexafluoropropylene (FEP), and copolymers of PTFE and FEP, and the like.

[0035] The VCCL 230 may be connected to a paired computing device for data exchange. Specifically, the VCCL 230 may include a wireless network transceiver to send and receive networked data transmissions to and from paired computing devices over a personal network connection. For example, the VCCL 230 may exchange data with a smartphone 240 over a personal network connection. In another example, the VCCL 230 may exchange data with a smartwatch 250 over a personal network connection. The VCCL 230 may be configured to receive one or more acoustic signals and transmit the acoustic signals to the paired computing devices. In particular, the microphones 232 may receive a voice command from the user 210 while the user is speaking, uttering, or otherwise audibly communicating.For example, a user 210 may verbally utter, "What's the weather like today?", and the microphones 232 of the VCCL 230 may receive the audible signal from the user containing the verbal utterance. The VCCL 230 may connect to the smartphone 240 and transmit the utterance "What's the weather like today?" to the smartphone over the personal network connection. The smartphone 240 may perform natural language processing and make a network request over a wide area network (e.g., the Internet) to look up information based on the utterance (e.g., to retrieve meteorological data from an Internet source).

[0036] The utterance may be transmitted to the coupled computing devices in an audio-enabled format. The coupled computing devices may be configured to provide responses in a voice-enabled or audio-enabled system format, and the VCCL 230 may be prepared to format the voice output for use by the user. For example, a user may utter "How's the score in the soccer game?" and the VCCL 230 may transmit the utterance to the smartwatch 250. The smartwatch 250 may receive the utterance, possibly without knowing the format or capabilities of the VCCL 230. For example, the smartwatch 250 may be configured to understand the VCCL 230 as a headset or a voice-enabled smart home assistant communicating over a network. The smartwatch 250 may respond to the utterance by retrieving sports information from a network.The smartwatch 250 may transmit the information in a voice-assisted system format, such as a text or audio clip. The VCCL 230 may be configured to format the response for the visual interface of the lenses 230. For example, a processor (not shown) of the VCCL 230 may apply a speech-to-text algorithm to the response provided by the smartwatch 250. The VCCL 230 may visually present the information to the user 210. For example, the lenses 230 may include one or more displays configured to display an augmented reality representation. The response, including a soccer game score, may be visually provided in the user's field of view.This can be advantageous in situations where it is impolite or not permitted to have information read to you by data processing units, or where looking at or removing units is not permitted. For example, interacting with the smartphone 240 may not be permitted in a closed area such as a library.

[0037] The VCCL 230 may be configured to respond to gestures from the user 210. For example, one or more image sensors (not shown) of the VCCL 230 may be configured to detect movement in the field of view of the user 210. The image sensors of the VCCL 230 may detect that the user is swinging their arm 212 in a particular motion. The VCCL 230 may transmit the image to the smartphone 240 via the personal network connection to perform image analysis and detect the movement of the arm 212. Once the movement of the arm 212 is detected, the smartphone 240 may initiate an operation (e.g., taking a photo with the smartphone 240, recording sounds in the surrounding area).

[0038] The VCCL 230 may include one or more sensors to detect movement of the user's face 220. In particular, the VCCL 230 may include one or more pressure or light sensors (not shown) that can detect movement of the user's eyelids 228. For example, the user 210 may move a single eyelid 228-1, and the sensors of the VCCL 230 may detect a command based on the movement of the single eyelid. The facial gestures may be processed by the VCCL 230 simultaneously with the reception of audible signals. For example, a user may first audibly utter a command "Message my spouse that I'm working late," and the microphones 232 may receive the command. Next, and almost simultaneously, the user may move both eyelids 228, and pressure sensors may detect the gesture of the user moving both eyelids.In response, the VCCL 230 may assign a priority to the "Message my spouse that I'm working late" command before transmitting the command to the smartphone 240. Next, the user 210 may decide to stop working and perform a gesture by moving the eyelid 228-2. In response to the gesture, the VCCL 230 may delay, cancel, or adjust the priority of the message. Specifically, the VCCL 230 may transmit the updated priority for the "Message my spouse that I'm working late" command to the smartphone 240.

[0039] In some embodiments, the VCCL 230 can determine the identity of the user 210. Specifically, the user 210 can train or pair the VCCL 230 with a smartphone 240. The pairing process can include the user 210 placing the VCCL 230 on, near, or inserting it into the eyes 226 of the user 210. Once inserted into the eyes 226, the microphones 232 of the VCCL 230 can begin listening for acoustic signals. The user 210 can be prompted by the smartphone 240 to read or speak one or more words, sentences, or phrases, or to otherwise provide acoustic signals. The distance 234-1 between the microphone 232-1 and the mouth 222 can be recorded or stored in a memory of the VCCL 230 or the smartphone 240. Likewise, the distance 234-2 between the microphone 232-2 and the mouth 222 can also be recorded or stored.Based on the distances 234-1 and 234-2, a signature of user 210 can be created. Sounds not originating from user 210 can be ignored. For example, at a second time (e.g., minutes, hours, weeks) after the pairing process, a second user can wear the VCCL 230 or place it in the second user's eyes. The second user can attempt to communicate and operate the VCCL 230 through acoustic signals (e.g., speaking, singing, shouting). The VCCL 230 can measure the distance between the second user's eyes (based on a delay or volume received at microphones 232-1 and 232-2). The VCCL 230 may compare the measured distance with the signature of the user 210 and detect a mismatch (e.g., the measured distance indicates that the eyes of the second user do not match the distance 234-1 and 234-2).Due to the identified non-conformity, the VCCL 230 must not function when used by the second user.

[0040] In some embodiments, the VCCL 230 may perform error correction of acoustic signals. For example, a user 210 may verbally utter the question "What time is it?" by speaking. The acoustic signals may originate from the mouth 222, and the microphone 232-1 of the VCCL 230-1 may record a first copy of the utterance. Simultaneously, the microphone 232-2 of the VCCL 230-2 may record a second copy of the user 210's utterance "What time is it?". The VCCL 230 may transmit the first copy and the second copy of the utterance, respectively, to the smartwatch 250. The smartwatch 250 may perform error correction or another relevant error correction algorithm on the two copies of the utterance. Based on performing the error correction algorithm, the smartwatch 250 may increase the accuracy or precision when performing speech-to-text for the user's utterance "What time is it?"

[0041] In some embodiments, the VCCL 230 may perform learning from historical data. For example, the VCCL 230 may be configured to detect a focal distance of the user 210 and a detected object (not shown) viewed by the user 210. The VCCL 230 may transmit the detected focal distance and the detected object to the smartphone 240. The transmission may occur while processing a verbal command received from the microphone 232 of the VCCL 230. In addition to generating a response to the verbal command, the smartphone 240 may store historical data, such as the detected object and the detected focal distance, in a data store, such as a main memory of the smartphone 240. The VCCL 230 and / or the smartphone 240 may perform historical learning and accordingly detect a relationship between various portions of previous requests from the user 210.For example, a relationship between a focal distance and a focusing direction of the user 210 can detect the type of acoustic signals, times of day, the location of the user 210, and the like. Using historical learning, the VCCL 230 and / or the smartphone 240 can predict an acoustic signal from the user 210. For example, between 6:30 and 7:17 a.m. on weekdays, a user may gaze at a distant object and ask, "What's the weather like?" In response to receiving acoustic signals, the smartphone 240 can detect gaze information from the VCCL 230 and, prior to processing (e.g., performing speech to text), determine that the user is requesting weather information, and the smartphone 240 can begin retrieving weather information from an internet-based weather information service.While the request is being processed, smartphone 240 may begin processing the acoustic signals to verify whether the utterance of user 210 was indeed a weather request. Based on the confirmation that the utterance was a weather request, smartphone 240 may provide weather information to user 210 more quickly, such as requesting weather information upon receipt but before performing speech-to-text processing of an utterance of user 210.

[0042] Fig. 3A shows an outer surface 302 of an example lens 300 configured to receive acoustic signals, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The example lens 300 may be a VCCL such as VCCL 230-1 or VCCL 230-2. The outer surface 302 may be configured to be distal, or remote from, a wearer's eye. For example, the outer surface 302 may be primarily convex. The lens 300 may include a plurality of components embedded within the lens. For example, the lens 300 may include a processing module 310, at least one external sensor 320, a display 330, and a power source 340. The lens 300 may also include an internal lens network 350.The internal lens network 350 may include one or more data transmission paths to enable the exchange of data and to connect the internal components for data exchange. The internal components and network 350 may be positioned so as not to obstruct the wearer's vision. In particular, the contact lens wearer may have a gaze, vision, or eyesight that includes a maximum 370 and a minimum 380. At the maximum 370, the wearer may focus to see an entire environment, including multiple objects. At the minimum 380, the wearer may focus to see only one or two objects in the environment.

[0043] Processing module 310 may include a computer system, such as computer 100. Processing module 310 may be a system-on-chip computing system. In particular, processing module 310 may include a processor, main memory, a wireless transceiver, and other components (not shown). Processing module 310 may be configured to transmit data to and receive data from a coupled computing device. For example, processing module 310 may use the wireless transceiver to establish a connection with a smartphone and send and receive data over the connection.

[0044] The at least one external sensor 320 may be a single sensor, such as a camera or other relevant imaging sensor. The external sensor 320 may be configured to capture outward-facing images, such as a view or gaze of a wearer of the lens 300. The external sensor 320 may be another type of sensor, such as a pressure sensor for detecting movement of a user's eye or eyelid, or for detecting a user's direction, view, shape, focal distance, or other eye-related information. The external sensor 320 may be a plurality of sensors. For example, the sensor 320 may include a visual sensor for observing an environment and capturing images.Furthermore, sensor 320 may also be a light sensor configured to detect a gesture such as a blink, a wink, an eyelid movement, open eyes, closed eyes, and the like. Furthermore, sensor 320 may also be a focus sensor configured to measure a user's gaze.

[0045] The display 330 may be an embedded display configured to provide information to the user. For example, the display 330 may be an augmented reality display configured to synthesize information from a computing device, such as a coupled computing device (not shown) or the lens 300, and an environment. The display 330 may be configured to span a field of view of the lens 300. For example, the display 330 may be spread across the maximum 370 of a wearer's field of view. The energy source 340 may be a battery, such as a lithium or polymer battery, or other corresponding battery technology. The energy source 340 may be a kinetic energy source.For example, the energy source 340 may receive a charge or detect electrical energy based on the movement of a wearer or based on movement of the eyes, eyelids, or other relevant part of the wearer. In another example, the relative position of the lens 300 with respect to the Earth's gravitational pull may change as the wearer moves, and the energy source 340 may detect the changing forces on the lens 300 based on the movement. The energy source 340 may be a receiver configured to receive electricity from an external source. For example, the power source 340 may periodically receive a radio wave or other relevant signal from a coupled computing unit, and in response to the periodic radio waves, the energy source 340 may convert the energy into electricity for the lens 300.

[0046] The lens 300 may also include a microphone 360. The microphone 360 ​​may be located on or adjacent to the outer surface 302 of the lens 300. For example, the microphone 360 ​​may be made of Fig. 3A may be disposed on or over the other parts or components of the lens 300. The microphone 360 ​​may be attached to the outer surface of the lens 300 with an adhesive, such as a transparent adhesive. The microphone 360 ​​may be integrally bonded to the lens 300. For example, the lens 300 may be formed by overmolding a polymer or other transparent material onto the outer surface 302. The region of the lens 300 where there is no microphone, outside the circle 360, may have a first thickness. The region of the lens 300 where the microphone 360 ​​is located, inside the circle 360, may have a second thickness. The second thickness may be less than the first thickness to form a cavity (not shown) or space between the outer surface 302 and an inner surface of the lens 300.The cavity may be configured to allow movement along an inner axis (not shown), where the inner axis extends through the lens 300 from the outer surface 302 to an inner surface. In some embodiments, the microphone 360 ​​may be sprayed onto the lens 300. For example, the microphone 360 ​​may be a particle-based element comprising sound-reactive material and adhesive. A machine may spray the microphone 360 ​​onto the lens 300 within the boundaries of the circle 360. The microphone 360 ​​may extend over a majority of the outer surface 302.

[0047] The microphone 360 ​​may be constructed of a transparent material that is receptive to sound waves or acoustic signals. For example, the microphone 360 ​​may be a magnetic coil material that is transparent. In another example, the microphone 360 ​​may include a plurality of magnetic particles mixed with transparent particles to form a coil configured to receive sound waves or acoustic signals. The microphone 360 ​​may extend beyond the field of vision of a wearer. For example, the diameter of the microphone 360 ​​may be larger than a possible maximum 370 of the view or view that a wearer may perceive or see while wearing the lens 300. The microphone 360 ​​may be configured to respond only to the user (a wearer of the lens 300).For example, the range or distance of sensitivity of receiving acoustic signals by microphone 360 ​​may be less than one foot. In another example, a sound or utterance that is outside a distance of three feet from lens 300 may not be detected by microphone 360. Microphone 360 ​​may be connected to internal lens network 360 for communication and configured to provide acoustic signals to the other components of lens 300. For example, microphone 360 ​​may be configured to convert sound waves from a wearer into acoustic signals. Microphone 360 ​​may transmit the acoustic signals to processing module 310 via internal lens network 360.

[0048] Fig. 3B shows an inner surface 304 of the exemplary lens 300 configured to receive acoustic signals, along with an environment viewable by the lens 300, in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The inner surface 304 may be configured or shaped to be placed on or adjacent to the outer surface of a wearer's eye. For example, the inner surface 304 may be primarily concave. The lens 300 may be configured to enable viewing of an exemplary environment viewable by a wearer. An environment may include a plurality of real-world elements, such as people, places, buildings, objects, animals, plants, and the like. At a first time, as in Fig. 3B, the environment 390 may include a table 392, a flower 394, and a book 396.

[0049] The lens 300 may be configured to respond to verbal prompts or other acoustic signals from a wearer. For example, a user may issue a verbal command in the form of speaking or uttering an utterance while viewing the environment 390. The microphone 360 ​​of the lens 300 may vibrate, detect the sound waves of the utterance, or otherwise receive them. The lens 300 may receive acoustic signals from the microphone 360 ​​and perform processing or forward processing to another unit. In a first example, the lens 300 may receive a verbal command to begin listening via the microphone 360. Furthermore, the microphone 360 ​​may listen continuously in an awake mode. In the awake mode, the microphone 360 ​​may transmit acoustic signals to the processing element 310 at regular intervals (e.g., every 100 milliseconds).Processing element 310 may be configured to recognize a wake word (e.g., "start listening," "wake lens"). Lens 310 may operate in the awake mode by default. For example, when not operating in an active mode, lens 310 may operate in an awake mode or a listening mode to process auditory signals and respond to commands, questions, and auditory signals other than those used to initiate listening. In some embodiments, external sensor 320 may receive a gesture command to begin listening. A user may utter an utterance about questions unrelated to environment 390, and lens 300 may process the question in response. For example, a wearer may ask for the time, and microphone 360 ​​may receive the question and forward it to processor 310.Processor 310 may determine a response to the time and provide a visual representation (e.g., pixels representing the time in Roman numerals) to display 330.

[0050] A user may make an utterance about the environment that relates to the environment 390. For example, a user may focus on or gaze at the flower 394 and verbally utter, "What kind of flower is this?" while wearing the lens 300. The external sensor 320 may be configured to observe the environment in response to the user's gaze between a maximum 370 and a minimum 380 of the view of the environment 390. The external sensor 320 may be configured to observe the environment in response to the utterance. For example, the processing element 310 may be configured to parse the question "What kind of flower is this?" and determine, based on the content of the utterance, that the user is asking a question about something that is within a field of view or relates to a gaze of the user.Processing element 310 may be configured to perform parsing concurrently with receiving the utterance. For example, for each word in the phrase "What kind of flower is this?", microphone 360 ​​may transmit the question word by word to processing element 310. As processing element 310 receives the word "kind" in the phrase "What kind of flower is this?", lens 300 may determine that the user is requesting information about something visual and, in response, may instruct external sensor 320 to activate and begin collecting information about the environment 390 and the wearer's gaze. For example, external sensor 320 may operate in a deactivated mode, and during the deactivated mode, external sensor 320 may not be able to collect a view of the environment.The external sensor 320 may operate in the deactivated mode by default, e.g., to reduce or eliminate power consumption by the external sensor 320 from the energy source 340. The external sensor 320 may detect, based on the wearer's gaze, that the flower 394 is the object of the environment 390 targeted by the verbal utterance "What kind of flower is this?" The lens 300 may transmit the verbal utterance "What kind of flower is this?" along with a detection of the environment 390 by the external sensor 320 to a coupled data processing unit for further processing. The lens 300 may receive a response in the form of acoustic data: "The flower is a daisy." The processing element 310 may perform speech-to-text processing to convert the acoustic data "The flower is a daisy." and display the received acoustic data as visual text "The flower is a daisy."” on the display 330 so that a wearer of the lens 300 can see it.

[0051] The lens 300 may operate based on predicting a wearer's request. Specifically, the lens 300 may be configured to analyze a voice command received from the microphone 360 ​​and detect, through the external sensor 320, whether the wearer's eye is focused on a particular object (e.g., the book 396). When the lens 300 activates the external sensor 320 and the focus or gaze is determined, the processing element 310 may capture and record the historical information of the command and the eye focus, gaze, and / or direction.Based on historical learning, the lens 300 may predict whether the acoustic signal correlates with the eye focus direction, and accordingly, the lens 300 may operate by performing a detection based on receiving a verbal utterance from the microphone 360, but before the processing element 310 has a chance to process the verbal utterance or transmit it to a coupled computing device for processing.

[0052] For example, lens 300 may detect a user's gaze if it determines that a verbal utterance received by microphone 360 ​​was a capture command. Processing element 310 may record information about the user's gaze concurrent with the capture command. In particular, processing element 310 may have a buffer, cache, or other memory that can record the user's various eye, focus, and / or gaze movements for several seconds before and during the capture command. Lens 300 may detect a second user's gaze. Lens 300 may determine a capture intent of the user. Specifically, processing element 310 of lens 300 may compare the second gaze with the recorded gaze information from the earlier capture command.In response to determining the user's capture intent, the lens 300 may instruct the external sensor 320 to perform a second image capture.

[0053] Fig. 4 shows an example method 400 for receiving acoustic signals and responding to commands from a user in accordance with some embodiments of the disclosure. The method 400 may be performed by a contact lens, such as the VCCL 230. The method 400 may be performed by a coupled computing device, such as the smartphone 240. Some portions of the method 400 may be performed by a lens and other portions may be performed by a coupled computing device.

[0054] Starting at start 405, method 400 begins by monitoring for commands 410. The commands may be in the form of verbal commands. For example, one or more acoustic signals may be received from a transparent lens of a VCCL 230 during monitoring. The commands may be in the form of gestures. For example, one or more eye, gaze, focus, eyelid, head movement, or arm gestures may be performed and received by a VCCL. Monitoring for commands may also include transmitting the commands to a coupled computing device, such as a smartwatch or smartphone. The commands may be processed by a VCCL. In some embodiments, the commands may be forwarded to a coupled computing device for processing. In some embodiments, a VCCL may only monitor for certain commands at 410.For example, a VCCL may operate in a wake mode, constantly listening for only a rudimentary set of tones or sounds. A speaking user or a user saying a wake word may, under certain circumstances, represent the mode of monitoring a VCCL. The VCCL may be configured to respond only to a word or command or a user request to switch a mode of operation, but otherwise remain unresponsive. In some embodiments, the commands may be received from a coupled computing device. For example, a personal network connection between a VCCL and a smartphone may allow data to be sent and received.Based on the smartphone detecting that a user's previous verbal utterance, contained in an acoustic signal transmitted by the VCCL, indicates that a user wishes to perform an action, the smartphone can send a specific command to the VCCL via the personal network connection.

[0055] If the command at 420:J is a capture command, a VCCL may initiate a capture of an image at 430. Capture of an image may include a command instructing a camera to activate or operate in an activated mode. During the activated mode, the camera may receive visual information. The camera may be part of a VCCL, such as an integrated camera configured to capture a user's environment. The camera may be configured to operate in a deactivated mode when not initiated to capture an image at 430. The capture may consist of a series of images, such as a video. At 440, the captured image may be transmitted to a coupled computing device.For example, an image may be transmitted after a connection has been established to a coupled computing unit of a wearer of the VCCL. In some embodiments, other data may also be transmitted in addition to an image. For example, a VCCL may record or assign to the captured image other data, such as a timestamp or a specific eye movement that corresponds to the time period in the area of ​​image capture. The other data and the assigned captured image may be transmitted together to the coupled computing unit.

[0056] If the command at 450:J is a listen command, a VCCL may begin receiving acoustic signals at 460, such as verbal commands, audible utterances, and other tones. The tone may be received for a predetermined period of time. For example, upon a VCCL entering the listen mode, a timer may be initiated internally by a processing element of the VCCL. The timer may be determined based on a single predetermined value (e.g., listen for 10 seconds, listen for 4 seconds). The tone may be received for a plurality of predetermined periods of time. For example, based on a first listen command received at 410, the VCCL may perform a listen mode to receive tones for ten seconds at 460.Additionally, based on a second listen command received at 410, the VCCL may perform a listening mode (e.g., for dictation purposes) for two minutes. The VCCL may receive sounds in the listening mode until the user stops speaking. For example, upon entering a listening mode, the VCCL may continue to receive acoustic signals from a wearer until acoustic signals no longer exceed a predetermined listening threshold. The predetermined listening threshold may be acoustic signals above a certain decibel level. The predetermined listening threshold may be acoustic signals that are constantly or nearly constantly above a certain decibel level (e.g., above 25 decibels every 1800 milliseconds).After receiving the acoustic signal, the VCCL may exit the listening mode and re-enter a wait or wake mode, waiting again for a wake-up signal (e.g., monitoring for commands at 410). The VCCL may be configured to exit the listening command in response to receiving another command from the wearer. For example, a wearer may verbally utter "stop listening," at which point the VCCL may exit the listening mode.

[0057] The received audio may be transmitted to a paired computing device at 470. Transmitting the received audio may include establishing or re-establishing a connection with the paired computing device. For example, a VCCL and a smartphone may have previously been paired via a wireless personal network connection for data exchange. The personal network connection may wirelessly transfer data between the two devices while connected and may also allow the two devices to operate in a sleep state. During the sleep state, either the VCCL or the paired computing device may unilaterally re-establish the connection by sending a signal to resume data transmission.

[0058] After the tone is transmitted at 470, the method 400 ends at 495. In some embodiments, the method 400 may loop after the tone is transmitted at 470 and continue monitoring for commands at 410.

[0059] The present invention may be a system, a method, and / or a computer program product at any possible level of technical detail of integration. The computer program product may comprise a computer-readable storage medium (or media) having computer-readable program instructions embodied thereon for causing a processor to perform aspects of the present invention.

[0060] The computer-readable storage medium may be any physical device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction-executing system. The computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer-readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM).Flash memory), static random access memory (SRAM), portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), memory stick, floppy disk, mechanically encoded device such as punched cards or raised structures in a groove on which instructions are stored, and any suitable combination thereof. A computer-readable storage medium, as used herein, shall not be construed as carrying transient signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission medium (e.g., pulses of light traveling through fiber optic cables), or electrical signals carried through a wire.

[0061] Computer-readable program instructions described herein may be downloaded from a computer-readable storage medium to respective computing / processing units or to an external computer or storage unit via a network such as the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and / or a wireless network. The network may include copper transmission cables, fiber optic transmission lines, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switching units, gateway computers, and / or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing / processing unit receives computer-readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer-readable program instructions for storage in a computer-readable storage medium within the respective computing / processing unit.

[0062] Computer-readable program instructions for performing operations of the present invention may be assembly instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, integrated circuit configuration data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, as well as conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the C programming language or similar programming languages.The computer-readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partially on the user's computer, as a standalone software package, partially on the user's computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter case, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, over the Internet using an Internet service provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuits, including, for example, programmable logic circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or programmable logic arrays (PLAs), may execute the computer-readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer-readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuits to perform aspects of the present invention.

[0063] Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowcharts and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It should be understood that each block of the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, as well as combinations of blocks in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams, may be implemented by computer-readable program instructions.

[0064] These computer-readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a computer or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine such that the instructions executing via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a means for implementing the functions / steps defined in the block(s) of flowchart and / or block diagrams.These computer-readable program instructions may also be stored on a computer-readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and / or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon comprises an article of manufacture, including instructions that implement aspects of the function / step specified in the flowchart block(s) and / or block diagrams.

[0065] The computer-readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of process steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device to produce a computer-executable process such that the instructions executing on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions / steps defined in the block(s) of flowcharts and / or block diagrams.

[0066] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions comprising one or more executable instructions for performing the particular logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions specified in the block may occur in a different order than shown in the figures.For example, two blocks shown in sequence may actually be accomplished in one step, executed concurrently, substantially concurrently, partially or completely overlapping in time, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order depending on the respective functionality. It should also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, as well as combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and / or flowcharts, may be implemented by special-purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or steps, or by combinations of special-purpose hardware and computer instructions.

[0067] The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein has been chosen to explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others skilled in the art to understand the embodiments presented herein.

[0068] The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the disclosed embodiments. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein has been chosen to explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others skilled in the art to understand the embodiments presented herein.

Claims

[1] Method comprising: Receiving an acoustic signal from a user (210) through a wearable contact lens (230) and during a listening mode, wherein the wearable contact lens (230) is positioned on an eye (226) of the user (210) during receiving; Connecting, from the wearable contact lens (230) and via a personal network connection, to a coupled data processing unit (240, 250) of the user (210); and Transmitting the acoustic signal from the wearable contact lens (230) via the personal network connection to the coupled data processing unit (240, 250) of the user (210). [2] The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting a listening command by the wearable contact lens (230) to begin receiving acoustic signals; and Initiating the listening mode through the wearable contact lens (230). [3] The method of claim 2, wherein the listening command is a gesture performed by the user (210). [4] The method of claim 2, further comprising: Receiving a second command by the wearable contact lens (230); and Terminating the listening mode by the wearable contact lens (230) and based on the second command. [5] The method of claim 2, wherein the listen command is received from the coupled computing unit (240, 250) via the personal network connection. [6] The method of claim 2, wherein the listening mode is initiated for a predetermined period of time, and wherein the method further comprises: Terminating the listening mode by the wearable contact lens (230) and based on the predetermined period of time. [7] The method of claim 2, wherein the listening command is an audible command of the user, and wherein the wearable contact lens (230) operates in an awake mode when not operating in the listening mode. [8] The method of claim 1, wherein the wearable contact lens (230) includes a camera for capturing an image of an environment of the user (230), and wherein the method further comprises: Receiving a detection command by the wearable contact lens (230); syntactically analyzing the capture command by the wearable contact lens (230); and Initiating image capture of a view of the user (210) by the camera of the wearable contact lens (230). [9] The method of claim 8, wherein the camera operates in a deactivated mode, and wherein the method further comprises: Activating the camera of the wearable contact lens (230) by the wearable contact lens (230) in response to the capture command and prior to image capture. [10] The method of claim 8, wherein the capture command is a gesture performed by the user (210). [11] The method of claim 8, further comprising: Detecting a gaze of the user (210) through the wearable contact lens and in response to the capture command; Recording a gaze record of the user's (210) gaze through the wearable contact lens (230) concurrently with the capture command; Detecting a second look of the user (210) through the wearable contact lens (230); Determining an intent to capture by the wearable contact lens (230) and based on the second gaze and on the gaze recording; and Initiating a second image capture of a second view of the user (210) by the camera of the wearable contact lens (230) and based on the capture intent. [12] The method of claim 11, wherein the second image acquisition is initiated prior to parsing a second acquisition command. [13] The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting a gesture performed by the user (210) through the wearable contact lens (230); Adjusting a priority of the acoustic signal by the wearable contact lens (230) and based on the gesture; and Transmitting the priority to the coupled data processing unit of the user (210) by the wearable contact lens (230). [14] The method of claim 1, wherein the acoustic signal is a voice command of the user, and wherein the wearable contact lens (230) has a display configured to provide visual information to the user (210), and wherein the method further comprises: Receiving a response to the voice command by the wearable contact lens (230); and Displaying the response via the wearable contact lens display (230). [15] System (100), the system (100) comprising: a main memory (120) containing one or more instructions; and a processor (110), the processor (110) being connected to the main memory (120) for data exchange, the processor (110) being configured in response to reading the one or more instructions to: Receiving an acoustic signal from a user (210) through a wearable contact lens (230) and during a listening mode, wherein the wearable contact lens (230) is positioned on an eye (226) of the user (210) during receiving; Connecting, from the wearable contact lens (230) and via a personal network connection, to a coupled data processing unit (240, 250) of the user (210); and Transmitting the acoustic signal from the wearable contact lens (230) via the personal network connection to the coupled data processing unit (240, 250) of the user (210). [16] The system (100) of claim 15, wherein the acoustic signal is a voice command of the user (210), and wherein the wearable contact lens (230) has a display configured to provide visual information to the user (210), and wherein the processor (110) is further configured to: Receiving a response to the voice command by the wearable contact lens (230); and Displaying the response via the wearable contact lens display (230). [17] The system of claim 16, wherein the response is rendered as part of an augmented reality image comprising the response and a view of the user (210). [18] Computer program product, wherein the computer program product comprises: one or more computer-readable storage media; and Program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media, the program instructions configured to: Receiving an acoustic signal from a user (210) through a wearable contact lens (230) and during a listening mode, wherein the wearable contact lens (230) is positioned on an eye (226) of the user (210) during receiving; Connecting, from the wearable contact lens (230) and via a personal network connection, to a coupled data processing unit (240, 250) of the user; and Transmitting the acoustic signal from the wearable contact lens (230) via the personal network connection to the coupled data processing unit (240, 250) of the user (210). [19] The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the program instructions are further configured to: detecting a listening command by the wearable contact lens (230) to begin receiving acoustic signals; and Initiating the listening mode through the wearable contact lens (230). [20] The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the listening mode is initiated for a predetermined period of time, the program instructions further configured to: Terminating the listening mode by the wearable contact lens (230) and based on the predetermined period of time.

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