Comment by ArnoVW | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ArnoVW | Hacker News Reader

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Synopsis: Humans cannot perceive infrared light due to the physical thermodynamic properties of photon-detecting opsins. However, the capability to detect invisible multispectral infrared light with the naked eye is highly desirable. Here, we report wearable near-infrared (NIR) upconversion contact lenses (UCLs) with suitable optical properties, hydrophilicity, flexibility, and biocompatibility. Mice with UCLs could recognize NIR temporal and spatial information and make behavioral decisions. Furthermore, human participants wearing UCLs could discriminate NIR information, including temporal coding and spatial images. Notably, we have developed trichromatic UCLs (tUCLs), allowing humans to distinguish multiple spectra of NIR light, which can function as three primary colors, thereby achieving human NIR spatiotemporal color vision. Our research opens up the potential of wearable polymeric materials for non-invasive NIR vision, assisting humans in perceiving and transmitting temporal, spatial, and color dimensions of NIR light.

Yeah boss, I'm gonna need an ELI5 and potential use cases here

Contact lens converts IR to visible light. Use cases include night vision and seeing if your tv remote is working.

> However, detecting environmental NIR information in the natural conditions at night without NIR illumination still remains challenging, requiring further advancements in material science and optical design.

Sadly no night vision contact lenses yet.

Well, using an IR flashlight will light the path only for the contact lenses wearer, so still pretty cool and plausible.

Identifying things that aren't the right temperature a trillions of dollars problem spread across many industries.

Though I think perhaps glasses are a better form factor for such tech.

This is what I was thinking. I already wear glasses. I wonder if there's a coating or something I can get applied that would add this.

Seems like it would be good for marking cards. Make some cards reflect in the NIR. These contacts don't focus, however, so you can't get a clear perception of where the NIR is coming from.

TL;DR You can see heat, and normally invisible IR signalling so you can see your universal TV remote light up and other things, potentially air or liquid currents as turbulent flow, when its sensitive enough (which it isn't at this point).

The downsides they seem to ignore, include the literature showing light on the lower end Blue->UV, and light on the upper end to NIR, have direct impact on the endocrine system through light activated pathways in your eye. If you wear a contact lens, this light is blocked, the same goes for laser eye surgery where a artificial lens is used.

John Ott, and Fritz Hollwich pioneered early studies on photobiology, and funding for it has been sparse despite Asia's myopia crisis; which statistics show generally increased dramatically shortly after blue LEDs came to market in the late 90s, and appear correlated with exposure.

> Mice with UCLs

Holy moly, putting contacts on mice?!?! It's just this side of impossible to put contacts on another human, and not much easier putting them on yourself.

That's dedication to science.

if you care about the animals well being and prospects then it becomes impossible. if you ignore the 'living being' factor then you could probably do this to anything.

it is as simple as preventing movement ye?

I dunno, I think a mouse would be far less likely to react by throwing hands than a human, plus, a mouse can be muzzled to protect against their primary weapon.

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