Now, telescopic contact lenses that lets you zoom in with a wink

Researchers have unveiled the latest version of a first of its kind telescopic contact lens, that allows the wearer to zoom in and out with the wink of an eye. The prototype, unveiled at the AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, California, by Eric Tremblay from EPFL in Switzerland, could one day help people with visual impairment. The lenses might be particularly useful for people with macular degeneration, a debilitating condition in which those affected gradually lose their central vision. It is the leading cause of visual impairment in the UK and affects millions worldwide.

The contacts work by incorporating a very thin reflective telescope inside a 1.55mm thick lens. Small mirrors within bounce light around, expanding the perceived size of objects and magnifying the view, so it's like looking through low magnification binoculars. At this time, the telescopic contacts are made using a rigid lens known as a scleral lens, larger in diameter than the typical soft contacts you might be used to and valuable for special cases, such as for people with irregularly shaped corneas. Although large and rigid, scleral lenses are safe and comfortable for special applications, and present an attractive platform for technologies such as optics, sensors, and electronics like the ones in the telescopic contact lens, says Tremblay.

The final lenses are made from several precision cut and carefully assembled pieces of plastics, aluminum mirrors, and polarizing thin films, along with biologically safe glues. Since the eye needs a steady supply of oxygen, the scientific team has spent the last couple of years making the lenses more breathable. The optics specialist also debuted complementary smart glasses that recognize winks and ignore blinks, allowing wearers of the contact lenses to switch between normal and magnified vision.

The glasses work by electronically selecting a polarization of light to reach the contact lens. The contact lens allows one type of polarization in the 1x aperture and another in the 2.8x aperture. Thus, the user sees the view at a distance where the polarization of the glasses and contact lens aperture match.