34.2 A 21pJ/frame/pixel Imager and 34pJ/frame/pixel Image Processor for a Low-Vision Augmented-Reality Smart Contact Lens

Over 253 million people worldwide suffer from permanent visual impairments (e.g., glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration) that cannot be rectified using refractive correction or surgery. Such patients rely on canes, monoculars, or service dogs for mobility, which while effective, do not provide rich information and are not hands-free. Recently, low-vision augmented-reality (AR) headsets have been developed to provide hands-free, real-time, enhanced-image overlays that highlight objects and obstacles. However, social stigma and form factor impede their adoption. We introduce a complete, enhanced-image overlay solution for a socially transparent AR contact lens for low-vision patients that provides a rich set of controllable image overlays such as contrast enhancement, edge detection, and zoom. The lens consists of three main components: an outward-looking imager, an image processor, and a microLED display. The lens captures the scene from the wearer's central vision, performs a user-specified image processing task (e.g., edge detection), and sends the result to the display, which, along with its miniature optics, projects images directly onto the retina, highlighting outlines of real-world objects.