Soft Contact lens Robot that can be very helpful

The contacts are actually soft robots.

* Researchers at the University of California San Diego have created robotic contact lenses.

*All you need to do is blink twice with the contacts in your eyes, and they'll zoom in up to 32 percent.

*Researchers hope to further develop this tech to create adjustable glasses and other visual prostheses.

Imagine having the ability to zoom in on objects with the literal blink of an eye. Sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick, right? Now that hypothetical is a reality, as researchers from the University of California San Diego have designed contact lenses that use the electrooculographic signal naturally produced by our eyes to perform vision-enhancing tasks like zooming in and out.

The contacts—which are actually soft robots—feature five electrodes per lens. The electrodes are spread across the contacts to act as muscles, and are made up of layers of electroactive polymer designed to expand when they receive an electrical signal from the eye.

In a study published in Advanced Functional Materials, the scientists behind the biomimetic contacts cited already-existing human-machine interfaces (HMIs)—which have improved the quality of life for users—as a partial inspiration for robotic lenses.

The activated soft elastomer works to increase focal length by as much as 32 percent. Synchronization between the eye and contacts occurs easily thanks to the polymer's rapid response to the electrical stimuli.

Researchers are hopeful that they can use this tech in the future to create a fully functioning prosthetic eye and other visual prostheses.