How A Robotic Contact Lens Can Be Controlled By Blinking

The next step will probably AI-driven contacts which can anticipate the wearer's need to zoom in or out. JL

Ivan Mehta reports in The Next Web:

A new robotic soft contact lens lets you zoom by blinking twice. The lens can be controlled by your eye movements.  Eye movements like blinking carry change potential to signal. The eye has an electro-oculographic potential, even if you’re sleeping. Because of the soft materials used in the lens, relative changes in the focal length can be as large as 32%. The focal length is changed by deforming the lens. The team used dielectric elastomer to achieve the required deformation.
Scientists from the University of California, San Diego, have created a new robotic soft contact lens that lets you zoom by blinking twice. The lens can be controlled by your eye movements.
Eye movements like blinking carry change potential to signal. Shengqiang Cai, the lead researcher, told the New Scientist that the eye has an electro-oculographic potential, even if you’re sleeping:

So, these scientists measured the electrical impulse and found a way to use it to change the focal length of the lens. The study claims that because of the soft materials used in the lens, relative changes in the focal length can be as large as 32 percent. The focal length is changed by deforming the lens. In the experiment, the team used dielectric elastomer to achieve the required deformation.

Design of the biometric soft lens

The scientists said this lens can be used for visual prostheses, adjustable glasses, and remotely operated robotics in the future. But I bet you’re already dreaming of wearing this and becoming a superspy?