A system includes an electronic contact lens that can detect eye gestures for initiating various actions. The electronic contact lens includes integrated sensors for obtaining sensor measurements characterizing eye motion. The sensor measurements are processed to detect gestures mapped to specific actions such as changing a power state of the electronic contact lens, activating or deactivating a user interface or other feature, or selecting an item from a virtual menu. The eye gestures may involve the user sequentially performing a first saccade quickly followed by a second saccade in an opposite direction from the first saccade.