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Scientists have created contact lenses that they claim allow people to see in the dark with the help of infrared light, an invention that could allow colorblind people to see colors again, or spies to relay secret information via flashes of infrared light.
As detailed in a paper published in the journal Cell, the contacts don’t even require an external power source to turn infrared light into visible light.
Experiments involving both mice and humans have shown that the lenses allow the wearer to perceive multiple infrared wavelengths — even when participants closed their eyes.
“Our research opens up the potential for non-invasive wearable devices to give people super-vision,” said senior author and University of Science and Technology of China neuroscientist Tian Xue in a statement.
Beyond allowing wearers to see in the dark, the contacts could even be used to receive data wirelessly.
“There are many potential applications right away for this material,” Xue added. “For example, flickering infrared light could be used to transmit information in security, rescue, encryption or anti-counterfeiting settings.”
The invention uses nanoparticles to turn portions of the infrared light spectrum, which lie just beyond what the human eye can detect, into visible wavelengths.
In tests, human participants wearing the contacts could detect flashing Morse code-like infrared signals.
“It’s totally clear cut: without the contact lenses, the subject cannot see anything, but when they put them on, they can clearly see the flickering of the infrared light,” Xue explained. “We also found that when the subject closes their eyes, they’re even better able to receive this flickering information, because near-infrared light penetrates the eyelid more effectively than visible light, so there is less interference from visible light.”
Building on their invention, the researchers fine-tuned the nanoparticles to make different infrared wavelengths appear as different colors, allowing participants to differentiate between them.
As a result, the researchers propose that contact lenses could help color-blind people distinguish between different colors.
“By converting red visible light into something like green visible light, this technology could make the invisible visible for color blind people,” Xue said.
The contacts aren’t perfect just yet, and aren’t able to capture fine details. It’s also a little hazy whether the lenses allow wearers to see anything illuminated by infrared illumination, or simply the light source itself; we reached out to the team with questions, and we’ll update if we hear back.
However, by relying on glasses that sit further away from the retina, the team hopes to improve their performance.
“In the future, by working together with materials scientists and optical experts, we hope to make a contact lens with more precise spatial resolution and higher sensitivity,” said Xue in the statement.
More on seeing in the dark: New Device Lets People Who Are Blind “See” in Infrared
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