AR contact lens wins CES’ Last Gadget Standing competition

The eyes really do tell all.

Or, at least a whole lot when using the world’s first augmented reality contact lenses.

The Mojo Vision Lens, which projects text, image and video information overlays onto your field of vision, captured the Last Gadget Standing prize Tuesday evening at CES 2021.

Its victory in the best new gadget competition was easy to see coming: Online votes tallied during a real-time livestream, rather than the traditional audience vote-by-applause, carried Mojo Vision to an overwhelming win at the virtual trade show.

Mojo Lens fits like a regular contact lens and uses motion sensor technology to follow your eyes. The lenses offer useful information like weather forecasts, restaurant reviews or turn-by-turn directions, according to Mojo Vision, a Saratoga, California-based startup.

“I hope that five, 10 years from now you’re all wearing Mojo Vision Lens and all having superpowers, and standing out and succeeding in the world,” CEO Drew Perkins told the virtual audience while accepting the award.

The product can access “information of any kind” available on the internet, identify someone with whom the user is speaking or provide real-time translation, Perkins said. It’s a functioning contact lens augmented by a minuscule display function less than half a millimeter in diameter. The AR goes away when it’s not in use.

Perkins envisions Mojo Lens’ edge detection and contrast enhancements can assist those with macular degeneration and glaucoma.

“Mojo Lens is designed not to bombard you with data, but to elevate your vision by providing the information you need exactly when it’s needed, all while letting you look like yourself,” according to a video Mojo displayed during the competition.

The contact lenses beat out four other finalists for the annual prize awarded to a new gadget. The other finalists were:

— Lenovo’s Thinkpad X1 Fold, a foldable touchpad that doubles as a laptop.

— TG0’s Etee, buttonless, customizable joysticks for virtual reality gaming.

— ArcX’s Sports Ring, a wearable fitness joystick for timing splits, changing music and other things.

— OrCam’s Read, AI technology for the visually impaired that reads aloud text on pages and screens.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.