Google and Novartis to produce smart contact lens

The newest project of Google X, the secretive division that brought us the Moto X, and the Wi-Fi balloons, is producing smart contact lens, along with the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis.

The targets of producing such devices would be, among other things, monitoring blood sugar levels, thus helping diabetes patients, and also, like any regular contact lens it will help impaired vision.

The project was already revealed by Google back in January as one of their main research targets concerning wearables that help monitoring health and fitness. Back then, Google said it’s working with its partners to help get regulatory approvals, and thus produce the lenses. It seems Google has now found its partner.

According to Google, one of the goals is to involve patients in their own health-care. It could also lower the cost of managing chronic diseases. The monitoring of the Glucose a.k.a sugar levels will be done via measuring the sugar levels in a tear. All that will be done using tiny sensors, which Google described as “Look like bits of glitter”, a.k.a tiny.

Novartis will help the production with both its big knowledge in the eye-care market, and the fact it holds a very big chunk of it through its Alcon branch, accounting for a fifth of market net profits.

The first prototypes of the lenses are planned to be produced by 2015, and these models will be used for R&D reviews, to help getting it ready for the average consumer, something that might still take a long time.