Zoom in and Zoom out with the blink of your eye: The future of contact lens is already calling, Details inside

Scientists have invented a new soft lens, which is made from saltwater and one can control simply control it by eye movements. Scientists have also measured electrooculography signals when you make specific eye movements after having these lenses on. They respond to electric impulses that your eye movements generate.

These lenses change their focal length depending on electrooculography signals it generates and accordingly, users can zoom in with the blink of an eye. Scientists have created a new robotic contact lens that users can easily control with small eye movements. For example, you can zoom in and zoom out by blinking your eyes twice.

Interestingly enough, it mimicks the natural electric signals present in the human eyeball since there is an electric potential between both the sides of the eyeball. When there is an eye movement, the lens measures the electrical potential. These natural electronic signals in the human eyeball have necessarily helped scientists develop the lens.

Scientists hope its future applications could be many, right from bionic, eye-controlled cameras to prosthetic eyes or as a smart eye-wear to act as tiny binoculars.

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How it works

Researchers have programmed the lens in such a way that you can zoom in with two blinks. Two more blinks and the lens would zoom out.

“Even if your eye cannot see anything, many people can still move their eyeball and generate this electro-oculographic signal,” Shengqiang Cai, co-author of the paper that was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials earlier this month, told New Scientist.

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Scientists hope it could also help people with disabilities control machines and other robots.

What goes behind the technology

Scientists explain the lens expands when the electric current is applied. Five electrodes surrounding the eye provide electrical current. When the lens seems the movement, it zooms in. This way, future users could zoom into any object for clearer vision and all they need to do is simply blink at those objects..

As mentioned, scientists have also measured the electrooculographic signals the eye movement generates. For example, up, down, left, right, blink and double blink. This way, this bionic contact lens responds directly to electric impulses and it changes its focal length depending on the signals.