Sony appears to be working on a smart contact lens that is able to record what the wearer is seeing.

A patent was filed for the tech innovation that would help augmented reality take a quantum leap forward. While this is still at the patent stage, if anybody can make it a reality it's the tech pioneering Japanese.

The patent explains that the contact lens will be able to record video and capture images activated by a blink of the eye. That means the unit will have crammed in: an image capture device, main control unit, storage module, antenna and piezoelectric sensor.

It's that last sensor which would determine the difference between a normal blink and a take-a-photo blink. Essentially by blinking for a little longer than usual, dubbed conscious blinking, a photo or video would be captured. The lens would even be able to zoom and autofocus.

So how will it be powered? No batteries come included as power would be transmitted wirelessly. This could be via radio waves, electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic field resonance. So it's all very much a work in progress then.

While this is still in the planning stages, along with similar efforts from Google and other companies, this is something that's incoming. Augmented reality is a possible future and with it will need to be an always worn screen and camera system. A contact lens is the most discreet way to avoid ugly Google Glass style kit. Now we just have to wait.

READ: Samsung contact lens displays will put AR video and cameras on you eyes