It’s already feasible for technology to operate in low-light conditions: consider a baby monitor, a wildlife camera, or night vision goggles.
However, researchers have developed a contact lens that enables humans to “see” in darkness, even when their eyes are shut.
It picks up infrared light, a portion of the spectrum typically unseen by human eyes, through minuscule nanoparticles integrated into a substance akin to conventional contact lenses currently available.
The night-vision lenses do not require batteries or a connection to a power source.
While they won’t show a sharp and zoomed in picture of what’s ahead, they can give clues and pick up light sources which would otherwise be hidden.
The study, published in
Cell,
says that study participants wearing the lenses could identify sources of Near-infrared (NIR) light in a dark room.
‘When participants closed their eyes, their sensitivity to NIR light remained almost unchanged, but the sensitivity to visible light decreased over 200-fold,’ the study says.
‘This was due to the superior penetration capability of NIR light through the eyelid, as previously shown in mice.’
Using these lenses wouldn’t simply act as an enhanced form of night vision goggles since they don’t boost light intensity. Therefore, you’d need to view something quite luminous to gain any advantage from them.
Yet, it’s an intriguing leap towards the potential of enhanced vision capabilities.
Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei achieved this by employing nanoparticles—significantly thinner than a sheet of paper—that can transform near-infrared light into a shorter green wavelength visible to human eyes.
You could assume these lenses would be extremely pricey, however, researchers calculated that they likely cost approximately $200 per pair to produce.
Why bother with this at all?
Most clearly, it could assist individuals in seeing during nighttime when it’s dark.
All objects that produce heat also emit infrared radiation; therefore, this can make warm-blooded creatures, electronic devices, and areas heated by sunlight throughout the daytime stand out more clearly.
You’ve likely come across infrared imaging through those thermal cameras that display your nose in a different color since it’s cooler being an extremity.
The researchers mentioned that the technology also had numerous subtle uses, including incorporating hidden anti-counterfeiting features into paper currency that cannot be detected without close inspection.
It might also assist individuals with color blindness by making various hues more discernible.
Nature
reported
It could also find applications in healthcare, enabling physicians to identify tumors more readily without depending on cumbersome machinery.
At present, they wouldn’t be particularly helpful for these purposes since the view they provide is unclear and vague.
However, keep an eye on this area – whether your eyes are wide open or shut.
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