Now, contact lenses can let you zoom in on objects
What's the story
In Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, we all saw how Jeremy Renner's character photocopied documents by simply looking and blinking multiple times.
He used some sort of 'smart lenses' for the job, which made the scene amazingly intuitive.
But, as it turns out, these smart lenses are real; they cannot photocopy papers but can zoom into objects through simple blinks!
Here's all about them.
Tech
Robotic smart lenses for zooming into objects
While the idea of zooming at objects via contact lenses sounds strange, the project is actually a reality.
The researchers from the University of California San Diego have developed robotic lenses capable of being controlled through eye movements.
If you blink twice, they zoom in at what you're looking. And, replicating the same motion helps with zooming out back to the original view.
Working
How this device actually works
The movement of human eyes - up, down, left, right, or blinking/double-blinking - generates certain electrooculographic signals.
These electric impulses are generated even when you're sleeping and have been employed for the creation of these lenses.
Simply put, the team measured the signals generated while double-blinking and created soft biomimetic lenses capable of responding to that.
Working
Lens zooms by the way of deformation
As you blink twice, the soft lens, created from dielectric elastomers, detects the impulse associated with that movement and deforms to change its focal length.
The researchers involved in the work say the material used in the lens can make its focal length as large as 32%, allowing the wearer to see objects closely at the blink of an eye.
Application
Possible uses of this technology
In the future, robotic soft lenses can be employed for visual prostheses or for creating adjustable glasses and remotely operated robotics.
The tech is still being evolved, but ultimately it could be used to make robots designed for search and rescue more capable.
Not to mention, it may even be employed by the military for enhancing the vision of soldiers.