For now, this is theoretical and somewhat limited in scope. A prototype based on these methods would be capable of rendering texts and icons only. Projecting video into the eye wouldn't be possible at this stage.

"Rather than starting with a display technology and trying to make it as small as possible, we started with the idea that smart glasses should look and feel like normal glasses," research team leader Christopher Martinez of technology research institute Leti explains in a press release. "Developing our concept required a great deal of imagination because we eliminated the bulky optical components typically required and instead use the eye itself to form the image.

"We don't bring an image to the surface of the glass, but instead bring information that is emitted in the form of photons to make the image in the eye."