Smart Contact Lens Layout for Adaptive Tint and Pattern Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing contact lenses lack advanced functionality for adaptive light adjustment and pattern display, failing to provide comfort, moisture, and oxygen permeability while offering refractive error correction and optical variations.
Innovation Solution
A smart contact lens with integrated light-adjusting and pattern displaying components, utilizing cholesteric liquid crystal layers and electrode structures, controlled by a circuit and control chip for dynamic light transmittance and pattern display, combined with a rechargeable battery for power, and a design that ensures comfort and oxygen permeability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If contact lenses integrate advanced functionality for adaptive light adjustment and pattern display, then the functional versatility is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functional components (light-adjusting component with liquid crystal layers, pattern displaying component with pixels, circuit structure, control chip, and battery) into an integrated contact lens system. The light-adjusting component and pattern displaying component are embedded within the lens body, merging optical functionality with electronic control in a single wearable device that provides both sunglass and makeup functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The contact lens is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: refractive error correction, adaptive light adjustment (sunglass function), and pattern display (makeup function). The lens body serves as both an optical element and a substrate for embedding electronic components, creating a universal device that replaces multiple separate products.
2Adaptability or versatility
If contact lenses integrate electronic components for light adjustment and pattern display, then the adaptability is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The light-adjusting component and pattern displaying component are prepared and positioned in advance before being embedded into the lens body. The circuit structure is pre-assembled with the control chip and battery, allowing for systematic integration rather than attempting to incorporate all components during final lens assembly. This preliminary preparation simplifies the manufacturing process by breaking it into manageable stages.
Solution Approach 2:
The electronic components are nested within the lens body structure. The light-adjusting component and pattern displaying component are embedded in the lens body, with the circuit structure disposed at the annular wearing portion. This nested arrangement allows compact integration of multiple functional elements within the constrained space of a contact lens while maintaining manufacturability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If contact lenses provide adaptive light adjustment and pattern display functions, then the functionality is improved, but the power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The light-adjusting component uses liquid crystal layers that can be switched between different states (transparent and opaque) in response to ambient light conditions. The pattern displaying component uses pixels that can be activated periodically to display patterns. This periodic switching rather than continuous operation reduces power consumption while maintaining the adaptive functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The light sensor detects ambient light intensity and automatically triggers the control chip to adjust the driving voltage to the light-adjusting component, enabling automatic adaptation to lighting conditions without continuous user input. The system serves itself by using environmental information to regulate its own power consumption and functional output.
4Adaptability or versatility
If contact lenses integrate multiple functional components, then the versatility is improved, but the thermal generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses liquid crystal layers instead of mechanical filters or coatings for light adjustment. Liquid crystals can change their optical properties (transparency and color) through electrical control rather than mechanical movement, generating minimal heat. The cholesteric liquid crystal layers with different dyes provide color filtering and pattern display through molecular reorientation rather than physical filtration, reducing thermal generation compared to traditional optical filters.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The smart contact lens provides adaptive sunglass functions and makeup effects with low power consumption and thermal generation, maintaining comfort and oxygen permeability, addressing the limitations of conventional lenses.
Implementation Method 1
The first liquid crystal layer, the second liquid crystal layer, and the third liquid crystal layer are arranged in a stack, wherein the first liquid crystal layer is a cholesteric liquid crystal layer having red dye, the second liquid crystal layer is a cholesteric liquid crystal layer having green dye, and the third liquid crystal layer is a cholesteric liquid crystal layer having blue dye.
Implementation Method 2
The control chip tunes a driving voltage being output to the light-adjusting component based on an ambient light intensity detected by the light sensor, thereby adjusting a light transmittance of the light-adjusting component.
Data Source
AI summary
A smart contact lens includes a lens body, a circuit structure, and a control chip. The lens body has an optical portion and an annular wearing portion surrounding the optical portion. The circuit structure and the control chip are disposed at the annular wearing portion. The smart contact lens further includes a light-adjusting component or a pattern displaying component disposed at the optical portion, in which the light-adjusting component is configured to provide sunglasses function, and the pattern displaying component is configured to provide beauty function. Each of the light-adjusting component and the pattern displaying component includes a liquid crystal layer to adjust light transmittance and/or color performance, with the advantages of low power consume and low thermal generation.