Infrared eye lenses enable sight in darkness or closed eyes conditions.
Shedding Light on the Dark: infrared contact lenses make the invisible, visible!
College researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China have cooked up some hi-tech eyewear that could make your night vision a reality! These lenses aren't your ordinary contact lenses; they use a special type of nanoparticles called upconversion nanoparticles to convert infrared light into visible light.
In a groundbreaking study published in the journal Cell, these nanoparticles were brilliantly combined into contact lenses and given to volunteers. They were then able to discern flashing signals from an infrared light, which usually evades human eyes.
The nanoparticles, about 45 nanometers in diameter and embedded in a transparent polymer, absorb near-infrared (NIR) light, normally invisible to us due to its placement outside the visible spectrum. They then emit this reflected light at shorter wavelengths within the visible range, painting a vibrant picture for the wearer's eyes.
The participants in the study could see both visible and infrared light simultaneously, with the added bonus of being able to perceive infrared light with their eyes closed.
Professor Tian Xue, from the University of Science and Technology in China, led the study. Xue explained that since near-infrared light penetrates the eyelid more effectively than visible light, participants were better able to receive this flickering information when their eyes were closed.
Although it won't transform the wearer into a Predator-like alien, the contacts are currently only sensitive enough to catch light from an infrared LED. However, the researchers speculate that adjusting the nanoparticles to emit various colors could help bring more clarity to the perceived infrared images. It might also assist colorblind individuals by converting red visible light into another color, thus making the invisible, visible!
The exciting advancements in this technology could one day enable real-time eye health monitoring with smart contact lenses and offer new opportunities for night vision capabilities.
Read more:
- Could smart contact lenses of the future monitor your eye health in real-time?
- Get stuck with a contact lens behind your eye: what you need to know
- Myth busted: carrots don't help you see in the dark
[1] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.8b02049
[2] https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200414134901.htm
[4] https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/310320-infrared-contact-lenses-see-in-the-dark
[5] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-020-0680-x
- The groundbreaking research at the University of Science and Technology of China has developed infrared contact lenses, utilizing upconversion nanoparticles to enhance night vision.
- By converting infrared light into visible light, these smart contact lenses allow wearers to perceive signals that normally go unnoticed by the human eye.
- The potential applications of this technology extend beyond night vision, as it could lead to real-time eye health monitoring with smart contact lenses in the future.
- Further advancements in the technology may enable colorblind individuals to see colors that are normally invisible to them, thus bridging the gap between the seen and the unseen world.
