Google patents camera-equipped contact lenses

Google’s Glass has had its fair share of time in the limelight, whether it showcases the darker side of human nature, or our natural tendency to help out one another in times of need. Well, it seems as though the tech giant has future plans in the medical line after patenting a smart contact lens system that has an integrated camera. Could this be the next iteration of Google Glass – minus the glass? Now that would be a really scary thought, since it would mean someone could be recording what is going on without you knowing any better.

Google has a new patent application with the USPTO (via 9to5Google), which takes one of the basic concepts of Glass and extends it even further, embedding tiny cameras that could be embedded in contact lenses for various uses, including photographing what a wearer sees, or providing the basic input for a contact-based assistive device for the visually impaired. Google has previously detailed a plan to build smart contacts that measure blood glucose levels in diabetics to provide non-invasive, constant feedback to both a wearer and potentially their doctor, too. This new system describes uses that could also benefit the medical community, like using input from the camera to spot obstacles and alert a wearer who has vision problems as to their whereabouts.