TECH

Scientists create zooming contact lens

Robotic skills worthy of movies like "Terminator" seem to be closer to humans. A study published this week in Advanced Functional Materials featured a prototype contact lens that lets you zoom in on certain objects.
The lenses are very easy to use: the subject must blink twice in a row to zoom in and repeat the same procedure to return to normal vision. This is only possible due to the difference in electrical potential between the front and back of the eyeball. The eye has an electric field that can be measured when performing certain movements, such as looking left, right, or blinking.
What the prototype does is identify the electrical signals of the movement (in this case, the two blinks) and translate it into the zoom. The lens is made of a flexible lens-like material - the part of the eye responsible for the focus. Upon receiving the signals, lenses are able to change shape to change their focal length by up to 32%.
But before you start imagining yourself with a bionic eye, it's good to know that for now the prototype works only with electrodes glued to the patient's temples (and let's face it, most people don't want to leave home looking like Eleven from Stranger Things). ). They pick up the electrical signals, but will have to be replaced with smaller devices or incorporated into the lens itself before it is available to the public.
This is not the first time science has developed "smart lenses." In 2013, researchers created a contact lens that could also zoom in with just one wink - the difference being that the wearer needed to wear an electronic eyewear over it, nullifying one of the contact lens's main purposes: to be discreet.
Even more recently, research by Stanford University has created glasses that automatically adjust focus using only the user's eye movement. The drawback, once again, is that they are not very discreet - they look more like an augmented reality headset. If you want to keep leaving the house without drawing too much attention, you better settle for the normal glasses and lenses for now.

Maria Clara Rossini, Brazil