The goal is to develop truly intelligent smart eyewear that can interpret the wearer's mental and physical conditions, paving the way for more advanced and responsive wearable devices.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed BlinkWise, an innovative AI-powered device integrated into glasses that uses radio signals to monitor eyelid movements with high precision, enabling real-time health and safety assessments.

This device tracks detailed blink dynamics such as duration, completeness, and timing, providing insights into fatigue, eye dryness, focus, and mental workload, all through a non-invasive approach.

BlinkWise employs low-power radio-wave sensing combined with edge AI to analyze blink patterns locally, capturing minute details to assess various health conditions without relying on external devices.

Data processing occurs on a small embedded chip within the glasses, which enhances energy efficiency and ensures user privacy by eliminating the need to transmit sensitive data externally.

This local processing capability allows the glasses to run advanced AI functions independently, making the system both energy-efficient and privacy-conscious.

The research was supported by a grant from the AI-enabled Systems: Safe, Explainable, and Trustworthy (ASSET) Center, emphasizing a focus on trustworthy and explainable AI applications in healthcare.

While initially designed for health and safety, BlinkWise aims to evolve beyond basic functionalities like voice commands and photo-taking, towards understanding and responding to the user's cognitive and physical states.

Unlike traditional systems that rely on high-speed cameras, BlinkWise uses radio wave sensing to provide real-time data by bouncing signals off the eye, creating an 'eye openness score' for continuous monitoring.

This technology has broad potential applications, including assessing driver fatigue, early cognitive decline, and managing chronic health conditions, making glasses capable of understanding the wearer’s physiological and mental states.

By employing radio wave sensing instead of high-speed cameras, BlinkWise can analyze thousands of eyelid movement samples per second, enabling portable and continuous health monitoring.