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We're nearing the beginning of a Star Trek generation already, as evidenced by the development of space travel, and exploring ideas like harpooning asteroids to mine the heck out of them. And then there's 3D printing, which is probably the tech used by Star Trek's simulator.

Then, and not finally, there's these smart glasses that could help blind people see again. The glasses will work by converting visual information into images that can be seen by the visually impaired. Geordi La Forge anyone?

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Often times, people with visual impairment can perceive some light and motion, but not enough to appreciate the world around them properly. The glasses, developed at the University of Oxford will try to help blind people a chance to see more clearly, in that respect.

It will use a camera and infrared projector to detect distance and combine data with information gathered from an on-board gyroscope, compass and GPS system. The images are projected on a transparent OLEDs. They won't look like Geordi's glasses anytime soon though.

The project has just won the Royal Society's Brian Mercer Award for Innovation, and the £50,000 prize money that could hopefully make it into a real product.  [New Scientist]