New contacts allow you to see infrared rays – even when you close your eyes
Straight from science fiction, these contact lenses transform infrared light into visible light that humans can see
Those who tested a new type of designer contact lens could see the flashing infrared signal from the light source.
Humans have a new way to see infrared rays without the need for clunky nighttime goggles. Researchers created their first contact lenses to communicate infrared vision. And even if people have their eyes closed, the device still works.
The team behind the invention, led by scientists at HEFEI’s China University of Science and Technology (USTC), has empowered the lens by injecting nanoparticles that convert near-infrared light into shorter wavelengths, visible light, in the 800-1,600 nanometer range. Researchers estimate that the lens will cost around US$200 per pair.
technology Details on May 22nd in cellXiaomin Li, a chemist at the University of Fudan in Shanghai, China, said, “It’s like a science fiction film and incredibly cool.” It opens up “new possibilities for understanding the world around us,” he adds.
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Pros and Cons
Near-infrared light is just outside the range of wavelengths that humans can normally detect. Although it is probably not enough to form an image, some animals can sense infrared light.
Night vision goggles allow humans to see infrared rays, but they are bulky and require power to operate. The new lens avoids these limitations and also offers richer, multi-colored infrared images for nighttime goggles that work on a monochrome green scale.
However, lenses have their own drawbacks. The embedded nanoparticles scatter light, so the images created by the lens are blurry. The team partially corrected this by putting the technology into the glasses with additional lenses that redirect the light. Furthermore, unlike nighttime goggles, which amplify light to detect low-level infrared signals, lenses can only see strong infrared signals, such as those emitted by optically emitting diodes (LEDs).
For these reasons, some critics do not believe that the lens is useful. “I can’t imagine applications that are basically not easy with infrared goggles,” says Glen Jeffrey, a neuroscientist in the nervous system at the University of London, specializing in eye health. “Evolution avoided this for good reason.”
Nevertheless, the authors believe that the lenses can be further optimized and foresees some possible uses of the present invention. For example, the wearer can read anti-cover marks that emit infrared wavelengths but otherwise invisible to the human eye, says Yuqian Ma, a neuroscientist at USTC.
Li, who was not involved in the work, offers another possibility. The lenses are worn by doctors performing near-infrared fluorescent surgery and can directly detect and remove cancerous lesions “without relying on bulky, traditional equipment.”
“A refreshing moment”
Scientists built to create contact lenses Previous research With them Injecting nanoparticles into the animal’s retina gave infrared vision in mice. Now they took a less invasive approach, testing it for safety by adding nanoparticles made of rare earth metals, including ytterbium and erbium, to the polymer building block soup to form soft lenses.
The main challenge was packing enough nanoparticles into the lens to convert enough infrared light into detectable visible light, while not altering the optical properties of the lens, including clarity.
Tests of mice showed that animals wearing lenses tended to choose dark boxes that were considered one or more “safe” illuminated with infrared, whereas mice without lenses did not like either box. The person wearing the lens could see the infrared light from the LED enough to pick up the Morse code signal and sense which direction the signal was coming from. Lens performance was improved when participants closed their eyes. This is because near-infrared light penetrates easily into the eyelids, whereas visible light, which can interfere with image formation, does not amount to a degree.
“It was definitely an exhilarating moment to see people wearing contact lenses and seeing infrared flashes well,” says Ma.
The team is currently planning to find a way to cram more nanoparticles into the lens, and hopes to develop particles that can convert light with higher efficiency to improve the sensitivity of the technology. “We have overcome the physiological limitations of human vision, as if we were opening brand new windows to the world,” says Ma.
This article was reproduced with permission and was First published May 22nd, 2025.
