Not sure if I'm missing something. These sound like fluorescent dye particles?
Don't such molecules emit light diffusely, i.e. not correlated to the direction of excitation? It also must be doing multi-photon fluorescence in order to bump up to higher (visible) frequencies. What is the point of putting it in a contact lens when it won't really echo the light field arriving at the lens?
I also recall that infrared photography requires a significant adjustment of focus compared to visual light due to chromatic aberration. Would it even be possible for an IR-sensitive eye to accommodate this difference in focus?
On the other hand, an efficient upconverting fluorescent dye could be embedded in an imaging screen with appropriate optics to make passive IR scope?
LlamaTrauma · 7h ago
This is super cool, I've wondered if this wort of thing could be possible and I guess it is. The applications given are funny though. I can't think of any applications either, but "helping people with color-blindness" reads like the ol' search and rescue excuse [1]. I think they're talking about shifting colors around so less color is perceived in the wavelengths they can't see?
It's pretty nifty though because besides changing the wavelength it must also preserve the exact direction of each photon. Without the correct light field you'd see nothing.
extraduder_ire · 2h ago
Is there any reason this needs to be in contact lenses rather than glasses? I assume it's very dim if not in direct contact with your eye.
lloydatkinson · 4h ago
How can people publish articles like this and not even show some type of mockup of what it might look like?
m463 · 7h ago
I think of the Radio Shack passive infrared card.
It was a plastic card that you could place under a light to "charge" and then if you aimed a remote control at it and pressed a button - it would glow red.
It would kick up infrared passively into the visible light spectrum.
wkat4242 · 3h ago
Of yeah i remember those. It was great to check if a remote was working.
These days I just use my phone camera. The IR filter isn't perfect and IR leds are tons brighter than visible ones so if you point it right at the camera you can easily see it.
trod1234 · 3h ago
While this sounds cool, the issues it raises are not.
Many people are unaware that the wavelengths of light in certain ranges, which include both the near UV (N-UV, violet/blue zones), and the N-IR have biochemical interactions, and blocking this through use of a contact lens has been linked (afaik) to myopia, which have many different risk factors.
aaroninsf · 7h ago
Three month old article.
What is most of interest to me in this research is that having a handle on stable and bio-safe chemistry that is reactive in near-visible spectra,
allows for a future wherein that chemistry is baked into additional cones,
allowing for polychromacy,
which might conceivably result in new qualia ("colors as they are perceived by the viewer" as in classic dorm-room arguments about whether one person's blue is another's red).
It'd be nice for our civilization to persist long enough, and to live long enough, to not just be around when that happens but have opportunity to try it out.
Don't such molecules emit light diffusely, i.e. not correlated to the direction of excitation? It also must be doing multi-photon fluorescence in order to bump up to higher (visible) frequencies. What is the point of putting it in a contact lens when it won't really echo the light field arriving at the lens?
I also recall that infrared photography requires a significant adjustment of focus compared to visual light due to chromatic aberration. Would it even be possible for an IR-sensitive eye to accommodate this difference in focus?
On the other hand, an efficient upconverting fluorescent dye could be embedded in an imaging screen with appropriate optics to make passive IR scope?
[1] https://xkcd.com/2128/
It was a plastic card that you could place under a light to "charge" and then if you aimed a remote control at it and pressed a button - it would glow red.
It would kick up infrared passively into the visible light spectrum.
These days I just use my phone camera. The IR filter isn't perfect and IR leds are tons brighter than visible ones so if you point it right at the camera you can easily see it.
Many people are unaware that the wavelengths of light in certain ranges, which include both the near UV (N-UV, violet/blue zones), and the N-IR have biochemical interactions, and blocking this through use of a contact lens has been linked (afaik) to myopia, which have many different risk factors.
What is most of interest to me in this research is that having a handle on stable and bio-safe chemistry that is reactive in near-visible spectra,
allows for a future wherein that chemistry is baked into additional cones,
allowing for polychromacy,
which might conceivably result in new qualia ("colors as they are perceived by the viewer" as in classic dorm-room arguments about whether one person's blue is another's red).
It'd be nice for our civilization to persist long enough, and to live long enough, to not just be around when that happens but have opportunity to try it out.