Computerworld, May, 2016. “Why a Smart Contact Lens is the Ultimate Wearable.”
EXCERPT: Smart contact lenses sound like science fiction. But there’s already a race to develop technology for the contact lenses of the future—ones that will give you superhuman vision and will offer heads-up displays, video cameras, medical sensors, and much more. In fact, these products are already being developed.
Sounds unreal, right? But it turns out that eyeballs are the perfect place to put technology.
Contact lenses sit on the eye, and so can enhance vision. They’re exposed to both light and the mechanical movement of blinking, so they can harvest energy.
University of Michigan scientists are building a contact lens that can give soldiers and others the ability to see in the dark using thermal imaging. The technology uses graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, to pick up the full spectrum of light, including ultraviolet light.
Sony applied for a patent for a smart contact lens that can record video. You control it by blinking your eyes. According to Sony’s patent, sensors in the lens can tell the difference between voluntary and involuntary blinks.
Telepathy and subvocal communication: I could fill hundreds of pages detailing the various advances in both hardware and software that make the creation of something like Eve almost inevitable, but I’ll spare you. There is just too much, and I suspect that no reader doubts that an AI of this size, and with these capabilities, is just around the corner.
Computers that can recognize human thoughts and engage in a sort of telepathy are being developed now, and prosthetic limbs and video games, among other items, can now be controlled using thoughts alone. I could have used this as the means of communication between Zachary Reed and Eve, but chose subvocal communication instead.
So before I leave this section, I’ll share an excerpt from a 2014 article from New Scientist, entitled, “NASA develops ‘mind-reading’ system.” (Despite the title, this is about subvocal communication.)
EXCERPT: A computer program that can read silently spoken words by analyzing nerve signals in our mouths and throats has been developed by NASA. Preliminary results show that using button-sized sensors, which attach under the chin and on the side of the Adam’s apple, it is possible to pick up and recognize nerve signals and patterns from the tongue and vocal cords that correspond to specific words.
“Biological signals arise when reading or using silent, sub-auditory speech, with or without actual lip or facial movement,” says Chuck Jorgensen, a neuro-engineer at NASA. Just the slightest movements in the voice box and tongue is all it needs to work.
The sensors have already been used to do simple web searches. In everyday life, they could even be used to communicate on the sly—people could use them on crowded buses without being overheard, say the NASA scientists.
So this concludes The Immortality Code author notes section. I hope that you found it interesting. Now, as promised, I will provide my author bio and list of books.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Douglas E. Richards is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of WIRED and numerous other novels (see list below). A former biotech executive, Richards earned a BS in microbiology from the Ohio State University, a master’s degree in genetic engineering from the University of Wisconsin (where he engineered mutant viruses now named after him), and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
In recognition of his work, Richards was selected to be a “special guest” at San Diego Comic-Con International, along with such icons as Stan Lee and Ray Bradbury. His essays have been featured in National Geographic, the BBC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Earth & Sky, Today’s Parent, and many others.
The author has two children and currently lives with his wife and dog in San Diego, California.
You can friend Richards on Facebook at Douglas E. Richards Author, visit his website at douglaserichards.com, and write to him at [email protected]
Near Future Science Fiction Thrillers by Douglas E. Richards
WIRED (Wired 1)
AMPED (Wired 2)
MIND’S EYE (Nick Hall 1)
BRAINWEB (Nick Hall 2)
MIND WAR (Nick Hall 3)
SPLIT SECOND (Split Second 1)
TIME FRAME (Split Second 2)
THE ENIGMA CUBE
A PIVOT IN TIME
QUANTUM LENS
GAME CHANGER
INFINITY BORN
SEEKER
VERACITY
ORACLE
Kids Science Fiction Thrillers (9 and up, enjoyed by kids and adults alike)
TRAPPED (Prometheus Project 1)
CAPTURED (Prometheus Project 2)
STRANDED (Prometheus Project 3)
OUT OF THIS WORLD
THE DEVIL’S SWORD
The Immortality Code Page 39