Sony Applies for Contact Lens Patent

"Tech giant Sony has joined the race to develop digital contact lens technology," according to the Huffington Post. "Sony has plans for a wearable lens that can take photos and video, according to an application filed with the U.S. patent office, Tech Story reported. Sony filed a patent in the U.S. in May of 2013 for a smart contact lens — a fact only picked up by the media this week. The device would not only take photos and video, but store data, with no need for a tether to a smartphone. The lens would feature an organic electroluminescence display screen, according to the patent." Read more.

Sony's Smart Eyewear Geared for Any Type of Eyewear

"Google may be a bit ambiguous about Google Glass' future, but Sony seems unfazed. Either it has a very strong faith in the still non-existent smart eyewear market or it thinks it can take advantage of Google's failure there. Either way, it is pushing ahead with own attempt but also tries to approach the problem from a slightly different angle. SmartEyeglass Attach!, which is not to be confused with its other, odder attempt, may succeed in one area where Glass failed: flexibility," reports Slash Gear. "SmartEyeglass Attach! wasn't designed to be a complete eyewear solution, unlike Glass. Instead, it is simply a more marketable name for what Sony calls the "Attachable Single-Lens Display Module". In other words, it should be able to attach to any type of eyewear, and not just eyeglass. It can even attach to goggles. At least that's the theory and, as we've seen at CES 2015, implementation is still a wee bit limited." Read more.

Sony to Release Developer Edition of SmartEyeglass in March

"Sony Corporation ("Sony") has developed1 the "SmartEyeglass" transparent lens eyewear that connects with compatible smartphones2 to superimpose information such as text, symbols, and images onto the user's field of view, and it is moving forward with preparations towards the commercialization of the product," reports the Financial. "In order to explore the possibilities with and facilitate the development of apps for the device, Sony announces that it will offer the SED-E1 "SmartEyeglass Developer Edition" for sale in Japan, the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and Germany from March 10th." Read more.

Sony Shows Off Its SmartEyeglass Attach!

"Sony continues to seed interest in its smart eyewear concept. Sony recently released a video showing the SmartEyeglass Attach! in action, sent to YouTube via the Sony's Xperia Development team," reports Phys.org. "The video is a follow-up to Sony's introduction at CES 2015 of its single-lens display module with OLED tech. The concept focuses on being able to turn existing eyeglasses or sunglasses into smart devices." Read more.

The video above is not the one that Phys.org referred to. To see that video, click here.

Sony Introduces Clip-On Augmented Reality

“Sony has just announced a new attachable display module that can turn a "pair of fashionable glasses, goggles, sunglasses, or other type of eyewear" into smartglasses,” reports Endgadget. “And, yes, it's completely detachable so you can remove it whenever you want to. This module is comprised of a control board where the Bluetooth and WiFi sensors, processor and other components live, along with a 640x400 OLED microdisplay that serves as your screen. The company sees a long list of potential applications for sports, work and entertainment, so it plans to provide "partner organizations" with an SDK.” Read more.

Sony Proposes Its Smart Eyeglasses

"Almost everybody who’s capable of producing tech eyewear is coming after Google Glass in a big way, and Japanese consumer electronics outfit Sony isn’t one to get left behind," according to Android Community. "It’s releasing the Sony SmartEyeglass (we guess people are running out of novel names for tech eyewear) to compete in this segment, although it doesn’t have software of its own as of now and is relying on third party developers to work with their SDK." Read more.

Move Over Google Glass. Here’s Sony’s!

“Watch out, Google. A recently published patent application reveals that Sony’s head mounted display glasses are progressing down the evolutionary path rather nicely. What once amounted to just wide-eyed concepts, this latest patent filing, a continuation patent filed on November 14, 2012, shows that Sony, with perhaps a bit of inspiration for Google Glass, is nearing a practical model. And unlike Google’s take on HMDs, Sony’s has information displays for both eyes,” reports Tech Crunch. “This isn’t the first patent to reveal Sony’s HMD aspirations. A patent published in the summer of 2012 shows a futuristic device — it looks like something from a made-for-TV sci-fi movie. The device in that patent has two lens, not connected by a traditional bridge, with each lens acting also serving as a display. There are cameras and battery packs and the works. This is, after all, just a concept.” Read more. You can also read more about the eyewear here.

Augmented Reality Eyewear/CL Roundup

“The rush is on to market eyeglasses that augment your vision with a dose of media -- from the much-celebrated Google Glass project to a pair of specs made by Visux that my colleague Scott Stein sported the other night here at CES 2013.” That's the beginning of the augmented reality eyewear/contact lens market from CNET. Read more.

Sony Develops CLs to Track Eye Movement

Sony reportedly is developing contact lens that allows its PlayStation to track eye movements. "The patent - spotted by Patent Bolt - suggests a pair of contact lenses could be used with Sony's next-gen console to detect eye movement, gestures and even blinking to control menus, videogames and other software applications to trained actions," according to Now Gamer. "Patent Bolt doesn't provide a link to the filing itself - which the site suggests was made as far back as May 2011 - and try as we might we were unable to find the listing through official patent and trademark websites. However, the site does suggest that magnetic contact lenses would be cheaper and more portable than something like a high-resolution Kinect camera, and could even be combined to enable 3D viewing." Read more.

Sony's Smart Specs to Give Google Glass Competition

"Google might not realize it, but Project Glass isn't alone in the patent race these days," according to an Engadget post. "Sony has quietly applied for a patent on a familiar-looking smart glasses system whose advantage over Mountain View would be an emphasis on things in twos. Eyepieces are the most obvious, but Sony is also keen on sharing data between two friends: transmitters on a pair of glasses would send personal info through a likely very uncomfortable glance at someone else with the same eyewear." Read more.