CNET’s Scott Stein holds a Mojo Lens prototype contact lens in front of his eye.
James Martin/CNET

A sci-fi vision is coming into focus. On Tuesday, startup Mojo Vision detailed its progress on a tiny AR display that could be embedded in contact lenses, providing a digital layer of information superimposed on what you see in the real world.

The Mojo Lens combines a collection of computing techniques to project information on a hexagonal display less than half a millimeter wide with pixels about a quarter of the width of a red blood cell. A “femtoprojector” — a tiny magnification system — expands images optically so they spread across a broader section of the retina.

The lenses, which are currently in prototype, are ringed with electronics, including a camera that captures the outside world. A computer chip processes the imagery, controls the display and communicates wirelessly to external devices like a phone. A motion tracker that compensates for your eye’s movement. The device is powered by a battery that’s charged wirelessly overnight, like a smartwatch.

Mojo’s plan is to leapfrog clunky headwear, like Microsoft’s Hololens, that have begun incorporating AR. If it succeeds, Mojo Lens could help people with vision problems, for example by outlining letters in text or making curb edges more apparent. The product also could help athletes see how far they’ve biked or how fast their heart is beating without checking other devices.

AR, short for augmented reality, is a powerful technology that injects computing smarts into eyeglasses, smartphones and other devices. The technology adds a layer of information onto real world images, for example, showing a backhoe operator where cables are buried. So far, however, AR has been mostly limited to amusements like showing a movie character on a phone screen view of the real world.

The Mojo Lens design for AR contact lenses includes a ring of electronics including a tiny camera, display, processor, eye tracker, wireless charger, and radio link to the outside world.
Mojo Vision

Mojo Vision detailed the prototype at the Hot Chips processor conference.

Mojo Vision has a long way to go before its lenses hit shelves. The device will have to pass muster with regulators and overcome social discomfort. An earlier attempt to include AR in eyeglasses from search giant Google, called Google Glass, floundered as people worried about what was being recorded and shared.

“Societal acceptance will be hard to overcome simply because it will be nearly invisible to the unknowing person,” said Moor Insights & Strategy analyst Anshel Sag.

Verily, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet, tried making a contact lens that could monitor glucose levels but ultimately scrapped the project.) Closer to Mojo’s product is a 2014 Google patented for a contact lens camera, but it hasn’t released any products. Another competing effort is Innovega’s eMacula AR eyewear and contact lens technology.

Miniature electronics on your eye

A key part of the Mojo Lens is its eye tracking technology to monitor your eye’s movement. People read line by line, moving their eyes as they do. But without eye tracking, Mojo Lens would show a static image fixed to the center of your vision.

Eye tracking is designed to compensate so you can look around to scan a line of text or look at different statistics on the Mojo display, the company said.

Mojo Vision’s AR contact lens display is less than a half millimeter wide, though accompanying electronics increase the component’s overall size.
Mojo Vision

The Mojo Lens relies on an external device, such as a smartphone, to control imagery and provide a user interface.

Why computerize contact lenses?

The startup picked contact lenses as an AR display technology because 150 million people around the world already wear them. They’re lightweight and don’t fog up. When it comes to AR, they’ll work even when your eyes are closed, too.

Mojo is developing its lenses with Japanese contact lens maker Menicon. It’s raised $159 million so far from venture capitalists including New Enterprise Associates, Liberty Global Ventures and Khosla Ventures.

Mojo Vision has been demonstrating its contact lens technology since 2020. “It was like the world’s smallest pair of smartglasses,” my colleague Scott Stein said after holding it very close to his face.

The company hasn’t said when it’ll ship a product but on Tuesday said its technology is now “feature complete,” meaning the company has all its necessary ingredients.