Latest news with #TianXue
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
New contact lenses let humans see in the dark — Even with eyes closed
This is an AI-generated image, used for representational purposes only. Scientists have developed futuristic contact lenses that enable humans to see in the dark using infrared light, without the need for bulky goggles or external power sources. The breakthrough, published in Cell on May 22, uses nanoparticle-infused lenses to convert invisible near-infrared wavelengths into visible images, offering the potential for 'super-vision' in rescue operations, security, and medical fields. 'These lenses could revolutionise wearable vision technology,' said senior author Tian Xue of the University of Science and Technology of China , in a statement quoted by Live Science. 'Our research opens up the potential for non-invasive wearable devices to give people super-vision .' Unlike traditional night-vision goggles, which rely on image-intensifier tubes and require battery power, the new lenses absorb low-frequency infrared light and re-emit it within the visible spectrum. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo The nanoparticles, made from sodium gadolinium fluoride and embedded with luminescent ytterbium, erbium, and gold, are housed inside soft, non-toxic polymers typically used in everyday contact lenses. As per The Independent, these lenses detect infrared light between 800 and 1,600 nanometers, just beyond the natural perception range of the human eye and translate it into visible wavelengths ranging from 380 to 750 nanometers. Initial testing in mice showed promising results. According to Live Science, rodents wearing the lenses consistently chose to avoid infrared-illuminated boxes, while those without the lenses displayed no such preference. Brain scans confirmed that visual processing centres in the mice responded to infrared stimuli, and their pupils constricted in the presence of such light. The lenses were then tested on human volunteers. Users could perceive flashing Morse code-like infrared signals and detect their direction. 'It's totally clear cut: without the contact lenses, the subject cannot see anything, but when they put them on, they can clearly see the flickering of the infrared light,' Xue was quoted by the Live Science. Interestingly, vision improved with eyes closed, due to infrared light's ability to penetrate eyelids more effectively than visible light. As per ABC News, Gang Han, a nanoparticle expert from UMass Chan Medical School and co-author of the study, said the lenses also enhance how people perceive colour. 'What's special about our contact lenses is that they let you see infrared light in colour, like red, green and blue — so you can tell different things apart more easily,' he said. Scientists have also experimented with tuning the lenses to help people with colour blindness by mapping parts of the near-infrared spectrum to visible hues like green or red. 'By converting red visible light into something like green visible light, this technology could make the invisible visible for colour blind people,' Xue noted. However, limitations remain. The current lenses can only detect intense infrared light from LED sources. Researchers aim to boost sensitivity to recognise fainter sources and improve resolution by pairing the lenses with wearable glasses. Looking ahead, Han believes this technology could be vital in search-and-rescue missions, military operations, or even surgery. 'This study opens the door to many exciting applications of wearable technology,' he said, 'potentially transforming how we see and interact with our environment, especially in challenging conditions.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Night Vision' Contacts Are Here, Scientists Say
In the 1980s, people wore their sunglasses at night. In the 2020s, people will be able to wear ultra advanced contact lenses that grant the wearer 'super-vision,' according to researchers. In a new report from Live Science, the new super contacts will allow wearers to see infrared wavelengths that are usually invisible to the human eye. Talk about a major upgrade. In a press release, researcher and senior author of the paper about the contacts, Tian Xue, said that the contacts will have a wide variety of applications. 'Our research opens up the potential for non-invasive wearable devices to give people super-vision,' said Tian Xue, a neuroscientist at the University of Science and Technology of China. 'There are many potential applications right away for this material. For example, flickering infrared light could be used to transmit information in security, rescue, encryption or anti-counterfeiting settings.' Right now though, the contact lenses are still purely in the realm of scientific study. They have been tested on both mice and humans. The tests so far have proved that without the lenses, there were certain things humans simply could not see. 'It's totally clear cut: without the contact lenses, the subject cannot see anything, but when they put them on, they can clearly see the flickering of the infrared light,' said Xue. 'We also found that when the subject closes their eyes, they're even better able to receive this flickering information, because near-infrared light penetrates the eyelid more effectively than visible light, so there is less interference from visible light.' If you want to read more about the science involved, you can check out more details here. 'Night Vision' Contacts Are Here, Scientists Say first appeared on Men's Journal on May 23, 2025
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Scientists create night-vision contact lenses that even work with your eyes closed
Scientists have developed contact lenses that allow people to see in the dark, and even work better when people have their eyes closed. Unlike night vision goggles, these lenses do not require a power source and allow the wearer to perceive a range of infrared wavelengths, and researchers say they could give people 'super-vision'. Professor Tian Xue, from the University of Science and Technology in China, said: 'Our research opens up the potential for non-invasive wearable devices, and there are many potential applications right away. 'For example, flickering infrared light could be used to transmit information in security, rescue, encryption or anti-counterfeiting settings.' Humans can see a range of light waves called the visible light spectrum, which encompasses wavelengths from around 380 to 700 nanometers. The contact lens technology uses nanoparticles that absorb light we cannot see and converts it into wavelengths that are visible. These nanoparticles specifically enable detection of 'near-infrared light', which is infrared light in the 800-1600 nanometer range - just beyond what humans can already see. The team previously showed that these nanoparticles enable infrared vision in mice when injected into the retina, but they wanted to design a less invasive option. To create the contact lenses, they combined the nanoparticles with flexible, non-toxic polymers that are used in standard soft contact lenses. Tests showed that the contact lenses allowed humans to accurately detect flashing morse code-like infrared signals in pitch blackness. They could even see better when they had their eyes closed, as it blocked out any interference from light on the normal visibility spectrum. 'It's totally clear cut: without the contact lenses, the subject cannot see anything, but when they put them on, they can clearly see the flickering of the infrared light,' Professor Xue said. 'We also found that when the subject closes their eyes, they're even better able to receive this flickering information. 'This is because near-infrared light penetrates the eyelid more effectively than visible light, so there is less interference from visible light.' An additional tweak to the contact lenses meant the nanoparticles could color-code different infrared wavelengths. For example, infrared wavelengths of 980 nanometers were converted to blue light, wavelengths of 808 nanometers were converted to green light, and wavelengths of 1,532 nanometers were converted to red light. This allowed wearers to perceive more detail in what they were seeing. It could also one day help colorblind people see wavelengths that they would otherwise be unable to detect, the researchers said. 'By converting red visible light into something like green visible light, this technology could make the invisible visible for colorblind people,' Professor Xue said. Currently, the contact lenses are only able to detect infrared radiation projected from an LED light source, but the researchers are working to increase the nanoparticles' sensitivity so that they can detect lower levels of infrared light. 'In the future, by working together with materials scientists and optical experts, we hope to make a contact lens with more precise spatial resolution and higher sensitivity,' Professor Xue said. Writing in the journal Cell the team said: 'Light plays a particularly essential role in conveying a significant amount of external information for living organisms to comprehend the world. 'However, mammals can only perceive a small fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum as visible light. 'This means that over half of the solar radiation energy, existing as infrared light, remains imperceptible to mammals. 'Here, we report wearable near-infrared up-conversion contact lenses with suitable optical properties…flexibility and biocompatibility. 'Humans wearing [the contact lenses] could accurately detect near-infrared temporal information like Morse code and discriminate near-infrared pattern images. 'Interestingly, humans with [the contact lenses] exhibited better discrimination of near-infrared light compared with visible light when their eyes were closed.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Groundbreaking new contact lens lets people see even in dark
Scientists have created contact lenses that enable wearers to see in the dark using infrared vision, an invention that could lead to advances in emergency and rescue operations. Unlike traditional night vision goggles, these lenses don't require a power source and enable wearers to see infrared and visible light simultaneously, according to a new study published in the journal Cell. 'Our research opens up the potential for non-invasive wearable devices to give people super-vision,' study senior author Tian Xue from the University of Science and Technology of China, said. The lens uses tiny nanoparticles that absorb infrared light and convert it into wavelengths that are visible to mammalian eyes. These particles specifically enable detection of 'near-infrared light', which has a wavelength range of 800-1600 nanometres. This is just beyond what mammals perceive, which is a fraction of the wavelengths corresponding to visible light, typically in the 400-700 nm range. Previous research in mice showed that these particles enabled infrared vision when injected into the retina but the Chinese scientists set out to design a less invasive option. To develop the new lenses, they combined the nanoparticles with flexible, non-toxic polymers used in standard soft contact lenses. Researchers then tested the lenses in both humans and mice. They found that when given a choice of a dark box and an infrared-illuminated box, contact lens-wearing mice chose the dark box, whereas those without the eye gear showed no preference. The pupils of contact-wearing mice also constricted in the presence of infrared light and scans of their brains showed infrared light causing their visual processing centres to light up. In humans, participants wearing the lens could accurately detect flashing Morse code-like infrared signals. 'It's totally clear cut: without the contact lenses, the subject cannot see anything, but when they put them on, they can clearly see the flickering of the infrared light,' Dr Xue said. 'We also found that when the subject closes their eyes, they are even better able to receive this flickering information, because near-infrared light penetrates the eyelid more effectively than visible light.' Currently, the lenses are only able to detect infrared radiation from an LED light source. The researchers are working to increase the particles' sensitivity so they can detect lower levels of infrared light. 'In the future, by working together with materials scientists and optical experts, we hope to make a contact lens with more precise spatial resolution and higher sensitivity,' Dr Xue said. 'This technology has a wide range of practical applications, including infrared information encoding and transmission, enhanced vision in poor visibility conditions like foggy or dusty conditions, and integration into smart devices for rescue and emergencies.'
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Groundbreaking new contact lens lets people see even in dark
Scientists have created contact lenses that enable wearers to see in the dark using infrared vision, an invention that could lead to advances in emergency and rescue operations. Unlike traditional night vision goggles, these lenses don't require a power source and enable wearers to see infrared and visible light simultaneously, according to a new study published in the journal Cell. 'Our research opens up the potential for non-invasive wearable devices to give people super-vision,' study senior author Tian Xue from the University of Science and Technology of China, said. The lens uses tiny nanoparticles that absorb infrared light and convert it into wavelengths that are visible to mammalian eyes. These particles specifically enable detection of 'near-infrared light', which has a wavelength range of 800-1600 nanometres. This is just beyond what mammals perceive, which is a fraction of the wavelengths corresponding to visible light, typically in the 400-700 nm range. Previous research in mice showed that these particles enabled infrared vision when injected into the retina but the Chinese scientists set out to design a less invasive option. To develop the new lenses, they combined the nanoparticles with flexible, non-toxic polymers used in standard soft contact lenses. Researchers then tested the lenses in both humans and mice. They found that when given a choice of a dark box and an infrared-illuminated box, contact lens-wearing mice chose the dark box, whereas those without the eye gear showed no preference. The pupils of contact-wearing mice also constricted in the presence of infrared light and scans of their brains showed infrared light causing their visual processing centres to light up. In humans, participants wearing the lens could accurately detect flashing Morse code-like infrared signals. 'It's totally clear cut: without the contact lenses, the subject cannot see anything, but when they put them on, they can clearly see the flickering of the infrared light,' Dr Xue said. 'We also found that when the subject closes their eyes, they are even better able to receive this flickering information, because near-infrared light penetrates the eyelid more effectively than visible light.' Currently, the lenses are only able to detect infrared radiation from an LED light source. The researchers are working to increase the particles' sensitivity so they can detect lower levels of infrared light. 'In the future, by working together with materials scientists and optical experts, we hope to make a contact lens with more precise spatial resolution and higher sensitivity,' Dr Xue said. 'This technology has a wide range of practical applications, including infrared information encoding and transmission, enhanced vision in poor visibility conditions like foggy or dusty conditions, and integration into smart devices for rescue and emergencies.'
