Contact lenses

• US 8,798,332 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2012
• Issued: 08/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Otis, Brian, Amirparviz, Babak
• Primary Examiner(s): Werner, Brian P
• Application Number:
  US13/472,411
• Publication Number:
  US 20140193045A1
• Time in Patent Office: 812 Days
• US Class Current: 382/117
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 11/10 Electronic devices other than hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: G02C 7/049 Contact lenses having special fitting or structural features achieved by special materials or material structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/18 Eye characteristics, e.g. of the iris
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/19 Sensors therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/197 Matching; Classification

Abstract

Apparatus, systems and methods for facilitating iris-scanning contact lenses and/or biometric identification employing iris scanning contact lenses are provided. In one implementation, the contact lens can include: a transparent substrate formed to cover at least a portion of an iris of an eye; and a circuit. The circuit can include: one or more light sensors disposed on or within the transparent substrate and that detects light filtered through the iris and incident on the one or more light sensors; readout circuitry, operably coupled to the one or more light sensors, that outputs information indicative of the light filtered through the iris and incident on the one or more light sensors; and a power component that supplies power to the readout circuitry. In various implementations, the contact lens can be employed in systems and/or methods associated with authentication and identification.

Claims

1. A contact lens, comprising:

a transparent substrate formed to cover at least a portion of an iris of an eye; and

a circuit comprising;

one or more light sensors disposed on or within the transparent substrate and configured to detect light filtered through the iris and incident on the one or more light sensors;

readout circuitry, operably coupled to the one or more light sensors, configured to output information indicative of the light filtered through the iris and incident on the one or more light sensors; and

a power component, operably coupled to the readout circuitry, configured to supply power to the readout circuitry.

2. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the one or more light sensors comprise at least one of a complementary metal oxide semiconductor light sensor or a PN-junction light sensor.

3. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the one or more light sensors comprise at least one light sensor configured to detect selected light wavelengths.

4. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the one or more light sensors comprise at least one monochromatic light sensor.

5. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more light sensors is less than approximately 500 microns wide.

6. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the one or more light sensors comprise a circular array of two or more light sensors.

7. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the information indicative of the light filtered through the iris comprises a pattern associated with the iris.

8. The contact lens of claim 7, wherein the readout circuitry is configured to output an iris fingerprint generated from the pattern, wherein the iris fingerprint facilitates biometric identification.

9. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the readout circuitry is configured to output the information periodically.

10. The contact lens of claim 9, wherein the readout circuitry is configured to output the information at least one of periodically in response to a polling signal or in response to an interrogation signal.

11. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the readout circuitry is configured to output the information according to near field communication.

12. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the power component is configured to receive a signal according to near field communication.

13. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the power component is configured to receive power optically.

14. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the power component comprises one or more radio frequency antennas and is configured to receive power via radio frequency communication.

15. The contact lens of claim 1, wherein the power component is configured to receive power wirelessly.

16. A method facilitating biometric iris recognition, comprising:

detecting, at one or more light sensors disposed on or within a transparent contact lens covering at least a portion of an eye, light reflected from light incident on an iris of the eye, wherein the light reflected comprises image data indicative of a pattern associated with the iris; and

outputting an iris fingerprint based in part on the image data.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the outputting the image data is performed according to a near field communication.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving an interrogation signal, and wherein the outputting the image data is performed in response to the receiving the interrogation signal.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the light incident on the iris of the eye comprises ambient light incident on the eye.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the light incident on the iris of the eye comprises a selected interrogation light spectra incident on the eye.

21. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving power wirelessly at the one or more light sensors.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more light sensors comprise at least one of a complementary metal oxide semiconductor light sensor or a PN junction light sensor.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more light sensors comprise at least one light sensor configured to detect selected light wavelengths.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the one or more light sensors comprise at least one monochromatic light sensor.

25. A method of biometric identification, the method comprising:

employing logic circuitry to execute computer executable components stored within a memory to perform the following;

comparing a first iris fingerprint with a second iris fingerprint, wherein at least one of the first iris fingerprint or the second iris fingerprint is generated based, at least, on an iris pattern retrieved via readout circuitry communicatively coupled to one or more light sensors disposed on or within a contact lens, the one or more light sensors being configured to detect light filtered by an iris over which the contact lens is substantially positioned; and

determining whether a biometric match exists between the first iris fingerprint and the second iris fingerprint based, at least, on the comparing.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the one or more light sensors are at least one of a complementary metal oxide semiconductor light sensor or a PN junction light sensor.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein retrieval via the readout circuitry is in response to polling the readout circuitry.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the polling is periodic polling.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the polling is performed over a channel according to a near field communication.

30. A system facilitating biometric identification, the system comprising:

a memory that stores computer executable components; and

logic circuitry that executes the following computer executable components stored in the memory;

a comparison component that compares a first iris fingerprint with a second iris fingerprint, wherein the first iris fingerprint is based, at least, on an iris pattern retrieved from circuitry coupled to one or more light sensors disposed on or within a contact lens, wherein the one or more light sensors detects light filtered by an iris on which the contact lens is substantially positioned;

a biometric match component that determines whether a biometric match exists based, at least, on a comparison by the comparison component.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the comparison component further comprises:

a fingerprinting component that generates the first fingerprint based, at least, on the iris pattern retrieved from the circuitry coupled to the one or more light sensors disposed on or within a contact lens.

32. The system of claim 30, further comprising a security component that unlocks a device based, at least, on a determination that the biometric match exists.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the device comprises a door lock.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein the device comprises a consumer electronic device.