Health & FitThese Contact Lenses Zoom In and Out with the (Double) Blink of an Eye

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• Researchers at the University of California San Diego have created robotic contact lenses.
• All you need to do is blink twice with the contacts in your eyes, and they'll zoom in up to 32 percent.
• Researchers hope to further develop this tech to create adjustable glasses and other visual prostheses.

Imagine having the ability to zoom in on objects with the literal blink of an eye. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick, right? That hypothetical is a reality, as researchers from the University of California San Diego have designed contact lenses that use the electrooculographic signal naturally produced by our eyes to perform vision-enhancing tasks like zooming in and out.

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Prototype telescopic contact lenses may one day help sufferers of age-related macular "We think these lenses hold a lot of promise for low vision and age‐related macular degeneration Programmed to be smart enough to differentiate between a longer, deliberate wink and the normal blink of an eye

The newly-developed contact lenses switch between near and far-field vision through the humble power of blinking . Well, two blinks of an eye . As reported by Gizmodo, users simply have to blink twice in quick succession to zoom in and out , replacing the need for spectacles for various

The contacts—which are actually soft robots—feature five electrodes per lens. The electrodes are spread across the contacts to act as muscles, and are made up of layers of electroactive polymer designed to expand when they receive an electrical signal from the eye.

In a study published in Advanced Functional Materials, the scientists behind the biomimetic contacts cited already-existing human-machine interfaces (HMIs)—which have improved the quality of life for users—as a partial inspiration for robotic lenses.

The contacts function even when your eyes are closed, because the human eye produces electrical signals 24/7, i.e., REM sleep.

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The warning comes from a new case report in the New England Journal of Medicine, which tells the story of a woman who, after swimming in her contact lenses, developed acanthamoeba keratitis, an infection that can impair your vision. The patient had her eye examined after two months of intermittent pain, sensitivity to light, and blurry vision in her left eye. (FYI: The patient’s eye looks green in this photo because of fluorescein eye stain, which helps doctors detect foreign bodies in the eye and damage to the cornea, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Contact lenses are considered to be the premium solution for people who have weak eyesight and have to wear glasses. While getting used to them Now, what if you were told that there is a robotic contact lens which can zoom in or zoom out by blinking the eyes , will you be willing to give it a try?

New contact lenses will zoom in and out – when you blink . These digital pop-up shops could be the future of contactless shopping — Future Blink .

In the study, the scientists placed an elastomer between two electrodes, which activate with an electrical stimulus (provided by the human eye). The activated electrodes cause the elastomer to expand, resulting in zoomed vision. Another double blink de-activates the zoom and sets vision back to normal.

The activated soft elastomer works to increase focal length by as much as 32 percent. Synchronization between the eye and contacts occurs easily thanks to the polymer's rapid response to the electrical stimuli.

Researchers are hopeful that they can use this tech in the future to create a fully functioning prosthetic eye and other visual prostheses.