Scientists have developed contact lenses that enable people to see in the near-infrared range, granting them “super-vision.” The lenses use nanoparticles to absorb low-frequency light and emit it as visible light, allowing wearers to perceive flickering infrared light. Unlike traditional night-vision goggles, these lenses don’t require a power source.
The new contact lenses were tested on mice first, where they showed promising results. When mice wore the lenses, they favored dark boxes over illuminated ones and constricted their pupils in response to infrared light sources. Human trials also revealed that participants could perceive flickering infrared light and pick up its direction, with improved vision when their eyes were closed.
To aid people with color blindness, researchers replaced nanoparticles with modified versions that mapped specific parts of the near-infrared spectrum to blue, green, and red. However, more work is needed before the lenses can be used by the public. They currently only pick up light from LED sources, which are very bright, and may not detect finer details due to their proximity to the retina.
To address this issue, researchers developed a wearable glass system for viewing objects at higher resolutions. While the breakthrough contact lenses show promise, further development is necessary before they become available for public use.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/technology/super-vision-contact-lenses-let-wearers-see-in-the-dark-even-with-their-eyes-closed