Keep an eye on the TV - with the TV in your eye

IT sounds like science fiction - contact lenses that transmit TV shows and tattoos that let us feel the emotions of the actors on screen. Yet experts believe both could be reality within ten years. They say the constant miniaturisation of technology will lead to TV sets being shrunk to the size of contact lenses and powered by body heat. Channels could be changed by voice commands or a wave of the hand, says a report on the future of home entertainment. Ian Pearson, a 'futurologist' who advises companies on new technologies, said of the TV contact lens: 'You will just pop it into your eye in the morning and take it out at the end of the day.' Digital tattoos, meanwhile, will pick up on the emotions portrayed by actors in TV shows and create impulses allowing us to feel the same emotions. This would allow James Bond fans to feel the thrill of outdoing the enemy or sports fans to experience the elation of jubilant players, the report, commissioned by electrical retailer Comet, predicts. The report said that while the predictions may sound like pie in the sky, most of the know-how already exists. While the wearer's eyes might seem a bit tinted to onlookers, they wouldn't be able to tell what programme was being viewed, a report on the future of home entertainment states. It states: 'We could even get to the point where we'll be able to immerse ourselves in a football game, making it feel like you're running alongside your favourite player or berating the ref.' Miriam Rayman, of the Future Laboratory consultancy, which compiled the report, said that while the predictions may sound pie in the sky, most of the know-how already exists. She said: 'The technology is getting smaller and smaller and people are trying to work out how to make it more immersible. They are trying to bring it closer and closer to the eye.' Bob Darke, Comet's commercial director, said: 'The future of home entertainment will go well beyond wafer-thin screens - we will be networked to our TVs emotionally and we will enjoy interacting with our home entertainment systems. 'The world, in all its multi-sensory forms, will literally come to us, just the way we want it. It will give staying in and slouching on the sofa a whole new meaning.' - Daily Mail

ePaper - Nawaiwaqt