New contact lenses let people see in the dark...with their eyes closed

The new optical aids could even allow people with colour blindness to see more clearly in the future

- 

Researchers have developed a prototype infrared contact lens that could allow people to see in the dark-even with their eyelids closed.

The cutting-edge prototype, developed by the University of Science and Technology of China, uses nanoparticles that convert infrared into visible light.

Contact lenses imbued with the nanoparticles were given to volunteers to wear during the study, which was published in the journal Cell. The participants were then able to see flashing signals from an infrared light, which is invisible to the human eye.