Telescopic Contact Lens Controlled by Winks

Feb-17-15 Researchers have created telescopic contact lenses that can be controlled by a wink and magnify vision up to 2.8 times of normal.

Created by a team from EPFL, an earlier prototype of the lens was first released in 2013 with an eye toward its use in the military. Since then, the lens has been updated for use by civilians suffering from the common Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

The new lens, measuring only 0.06 inches thick, works in conjunction with a pair of liquid crystal glasses. The glasses are able to recognize blinks, which will trigger the lenses to respond (e.g., winking the right eye to zoom or the left eye to return to normal vision). The responsive properties are controlled electronically by the selective admittance of polarized light: one type of polarized light is allowed through the standard, 1x aperture and another through the 2.8x aperture. The wearer is only able to see the image when the polarization of the glasses and that of the contact lens aperture match.

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[GIZMODO.COM]
[AAAS.EPFL.CH]

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