Credit: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

A first-of-its-kind robotic contact lens created by scientists in San Diego zooms with the blink of an eye.

The new biomimetic soft lens, controlled by electrooculographic (EOG) signal, has been created at the University of California, enabling users to zoom by blinking their eyes twice.

Lead researcher Professor Shengqiang Cai said, “We have developed an interface between the human eyes and a soft tunable lens. The EOG signals generated by the eye movements were used to control the movements and the change of focal length of the soft lens.

“According to our knowledge, a soft tunable lens, whose position and focus length can be separately controlled by soft active material, has never been designed and constructed before.”

The study, published in Advanced Functional Materials journal, says the system could potentially be used in visual prostheses, adjustable glasses, and remotely operated robotics.