Scientists create contact lens that allows you to zoom in

A group of scientists has designed a rather unusual contact lens. Normally, lenses are used to restore vision, but the researchers at the Swiss EPFL let you zoom in with their specially developed contact lens.

According to the EPFL scientists who developed the lens, it is possible to zoom in up to 2.8 times. That is quite little compared to conventional camera lenses, but for a piece of plastic that is applied to the eyes, it is quite special. Operation has also been thought of: the zoom function can be switched on with a wink. The system is able to distinguish between blinking and intentionally giving a wink. Winking with the right eye zooms in, while the left eye returns to normal vision.

The lens has been in the works since 2013, but a lot of work was needed to make it truly portable. Currently, the lens can only be worn for half an hour because the material is not yet able to allow oxygen to pass through. One of the solutions developed by the scientists to allow more oxygen to pass through is to make small channels in the lens of 0.1 mm in diagonal. The contact lens is only 1.55mm thick, but does contain a sort of mini telescope that works with mirrors to make objects appear larger than they actually are.

Incidentally, there are more research groups working on advanced contact lenses. For example, Google has applied for a patent for a lens with a camera. Earlier there were scientists who built a contact lens with a built-in display.

For the time being, the scientists of the EPFL mainly focus their lens on people with a certain eye disease. However, it is obvious that people with healthy eyes will also look at this with interest. It is not yet clear whether and when a commercial release is in sight.