Contact Lens Prototype Zooms in When You Blink Twice The soft biometric lens changes its focal length by tracking specific eye movements and reacting.

By Matthew Humphries

This story originally appeared on PCMag

Yuichiro Chino | Getty Images

If you wear contact lenses, but would love for them to be more useful, your wish may come true in a few years. Researchers have created a new lens that can zoom in when you blink your eye twice.

As CNET reports, researchers at the University of California San Diego developed a soft biometric lens that can detect electrooculographic signals. Our eyes generate these signals when moving, be that the eye moving in all directions within its socket or the simple act of blinking. It's also possible to differentiate between the type of movement detected and the number of blinks.

The new lens is set up to detect a double blink and respond by changing its focal point between two states: normal and zoomed in. It means blinking twice would allow wearers to focus in on small text they otherwise would struggle to see, for example. Another couple of blinks and they return to their more natural state of vision.

Wearing such lenses could easily backfire if you accidentally blink twice without meaning to, which would be especially dangerous while driving or doing some other task that requires focus. However, it's useful and wearers would soon learn to control the lenses with blinks (and quickly revert them back to normal vision if necessary). It's also important to point out the lens works regardless of whether the eye can see or not because it's purely triggered by movement signals.

There's no word on when these lenses will be available to use; it could be several years. The research team talks about using them in remotely operated robotics, so that sounds likely to be the first use case followed by adjustable glasses, visual prosthesis, and even an artificial eye eventually.

Matthew Humphries

Senior Editor

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

I've Made Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars With a Fun Side Hustle — And You Might Have Seen Me Doing It on TV

Phil Schraeder, CEO at GumGum Advertising, turned a childhood passion into a lucrative side gig.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

Meta Says It Has Fired 20 Employees For Leaking Information: 'We Expect There Will Be More'

Meta has a strict no-leaks policy, but internal memos and meeting recordings have still made their way outside the company.

Business News

MrBeast's Holding Company Could Be Worth $5 Billion After Its Latest Fundraising Round

The YouTube creator is reportedly in talks to raise funds for a holding company for his various businesses, including his snack brand, Lunchly.

Branding

How Businesses Can Capitalize on Emerging Domain Name Trends

The potential of new gTLDs and emerging domain trends is reshaping how businesses brand themselves online. Here's how you can stay ahead of the curve.