• Psythik@lemm.ee
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    29 days ago

    Maybe it’s just my ADHD, but the article doesn’t seem to be clear on something: do these contacts actually allow you to see into near-infrared as it exists, or do they merely shift the light into a spectrum we can see, the way cameras do? I’m hoping for the former, but I doubt we have the tech to allow us to see new colors simply by putting on a pair of contacts.

    (Also, the mental image of scientists putting tiny little contact lenses on mice is hilarious to me.)

    • Bubs@lemm.ee
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      29 days ago

      TL;DR from Wikipedia: In photon upconversion, two or more incident photons of relatively low energy are absorbed and converted into one emitted photon with higher energy.

      Basically photons are combined into a photon that is nearer in wavelength to visible light.

      • Psythik@lemm.ee
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        29 days ago

        Aww that’s disappointing, but I’m not surprised. Otherwise we’d be using this tech to help colorblind people tell the difference between red and green.