From desktops to laptops to iPhones, computers have shrunk to sizes unimaginable by their original creators.

Now UW researchers have established one of the smallest yet — a computer that could give a new meaning to the phrase “the eye of the beholder.”

Babak Parviz, an assistant professor of electrical engineering, has combined soft contact lenses with electronic circuits and lights to create a wearable computerized lens. The invention could be a replacement for mobile devices such as the BlackBerry and the Palm Pilot.

The lens superimposes what the computer generates onto the wearer’s field of vision. In other words, you can see your computer screen just by looking through the lens. The display is seen by just one eye, but it’s possible that future models could utilize both, researchers said.

Since the instrumentation is placed on part of the eye that’s outside the field of vision, the lens won’t obstruct the wearer’s view. Insertion and removal of the lens is the same as that of flexible contact lenses.

The lens is remotely powered and would use a wireless link to connect to outside devices.

The invention also opens doors for augmented reality. Rather than completely replacing one’s view with artificial visuals as virtual reality technology does, augmented reality combines real-world and computer-generated images.

Since the system knows where the user is looking, it can adjust images according to what he or she is viewing. By fusing this knowledge with augmented reality, the computer could point out the proximity of places on a map to landmarks in the lens-wearer’s real-world field of vision.

The researchers hope to create displays for cars, such as a radio tuner or an album locater for a driver’s iPod, potentially reducing the number of automobile accidents.

The lens could even take Terminator role-playing to the next level by offering bionic vision. Cameras and a zoom feature for small and faraway objects are future possibilities, Parviz told Business Week.

The organic materials used in contact lenses are delicate, making it a challenge to construct the lenses. The electrical circuits, however, were manufactured using a microscopic-scale technique, inorganic materials and toxic chemicals.

Though Parviz’s invention does not use corrective lenses, this could be incorporated in a future model, he said.

[Reach columnist Meghan Peters at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]