The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) posted a RFI regarding the development of a contact lens which will act as a information display system to communicate "command-and control information, not unlike information provided to players of first-person, shooter-type video games or synthetic entities and effects in a live training environment".

Previous incarnations of such display systems have been limited to helmet mounted displays (HMD), such as system in the F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter. However, this new system would not be tethered to bulky or an individual piece of equipment and could easily adapt to any environment by simply loading a new GUI.

One major caveat, however, is the aspect of information overload. As Miller noted in 1956, once you exceed 9 "pieces of information", your mental capacity to deal with that information diminishes significantly. So, one must limit the "number" of items displayed.

Additionally, a colleague and I found that different areas of the visual field are more adept at dealing with different types of information. So it is important not only to consider what (as in amount of information) you are presenting via the lens, but also where on the lens it will be presented as well.

From a pedagogical aspect, it is easy to imagine an "augmented" learning environment where presentations, video and other visually presented items would be presented via micro-display technology, thus freeing the instructor from the constraints of the classroom.