Beneficial Vision smart contact lenses from Care Harmony Corp. use a variety of technologies distributed among wearable devices to deliver monochromatic text and video images through contact lenses. The smart lenses contain an outer ring of rechargeable batteries and lasers that use wave-guide technology to project an image into the central area of the contact lens. In addition to delivering audio, wireless earbuds track head position and send that information to the contacts, so the projected image can appear to be a stable overlay in a fixed position in the real world when you move your head.

The information displayed can be controlled by either a cellphone app or through hand gestures tracked by a thumb and a finger ring. They estimate the electronics in the contacts will run for 20-35 minutes on a full charge.

The batteries in the contacts can be recharged by either placing each contact on a wireless stand charger or, cleverly, by wearing a pair of clear glasses with built-in power supplies that recharge the contact lens batteries via Bluetooth while you are wearing them.

According to the Beneficial Vision site, the company imagines the technology being used for areas such as entertainment, film production, education, personal security, law enforcement, medical and aerospace industries.

A non-operating prototype of the product components as well as a promotional video are being shown at CES  this week (Sands booth 52659).

Pre-orders for the base kit ($1,459) and advanced kit ($1,999) are being accepted on this Hollywood, Florida company’s website, but the product is still in R&D. The device cannot be sold in the U.S. until it receives FDA approval.