4w ago

Contact lenses make infrared light visible for humans – Anton Petrov (12:59)

Anton Petrov:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQh9ezBdoPM

Also cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/31467824

A team of physicists at ETH Zurich has created a tiny metalens that can half the wavelength of incident light.
They have achieved this using a special metal-oxide lens material called lithium niobate and through nanoscale pattern, stamped into the material.
Such metalenses could be used as a security feature on banknotes or in the fabrication of ultra-thin elements for cameras.
https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2025/06/ultra-thin-lenses-that-make-infrared-light-visible.html

11 comments

I'm really surprised he doesn't mention the obvious military application. Like sure, a light source is required to illuminate the whole surrounding space like we see from typical night vision, but... mammals glow in infrared... like we're emitting that heat-light. Seeing any definitive sign of such a heat signature is a massive advantage in some situations. Goggles are a massive encumbrance disadvantage. A contact lens would gain a lot of situational awareness and mobility.
- A contact lens would gain a lot of situational awareness and mobility.
  Seeing what happen to my wife eyes (that use contact lens) when even the smallest dirt gets in her eyes, I would say that in a open combat zone the googles seems to be way more effective.
  Maybe the best compromise would something like a simple sunglasses, the same as the glasses that filter the blue light.
I vaguely remember back in the early days of smart phones there was a way to remove the physical IR filter from the camera of certain phones and the result is that you could see through thin/lighter clothes. I wonder if this technology would do the same thing and effectively give people the perverted "x-ray vision" comic books and shitty magazines have been advertising for decades? Also if this does become a thing, are people going to start selling metal lined clothes to protect people's (women's) privacy?
Yeah? Well, I can see ultrared without any help at all!
- That's nothing, I can hear infraviolet.
Wouldn't this also halve the wavelength of a bunch of light in the visible spectra to the higher frquency, non visible spectra?
- It can only work up to a limiting frequency. It's probably in the visible spectrum or in near ultra-violet (that's how material go). But since it's a video, I won't go check it.
- I don't know for sure, but I watched an interview that Fraser Cain posted with Lucas Norder from "Breakthrough Star Shot", (the private mission to send a probe to the nearest star Alpha Centauri using lasers and solar sails). In that interview they were talking about a similar technology where the material is ablated to filter the laser frequency of light. I think this is basically the same/similar thing. I'm sure there are some tradeoffs. Anton talks about it not being very clear or usefully in visual focus IIRC. I picture it evolving into something like the FPS video game hack where players of something like Counter Strike can see the outline of other players through walls and such, but obviously to a much lesser extent and not through most obstructions. For instance, it would only take a small percentage of extra visual IR hinting to be super useful in a forest or jungle like environment against an enemy. Seeing the person glow would not be the point. Just a small amount of extra contrast would be a major advantage that works with existing instincts and intuition.
wouldn't there be military use before it reaches civilians. And I never heard military guys using this. Sounds like bs
- Anton has been a reliable source of info for years now. One of the good ones on YT.
- thats not always the case.

11 comments