Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) — not the University of Tokyo — have recently unveiled a breakthrough in wearable vision: contact lenses that can enable people to “see in the dark.” By embedding special nanoparticles into soft, flexible contact-lens polymers, the scientists produced lenses capable of capturing near-infrared (NIR) light (normally invisible to human eyes) and converting it into visible light.

Unlike conventional night-vision goggles, these new contact lenses do not require any external power source — a major step forward for portability and convenience.

How it works

The technology relies on “upconversion” nanoparticles carefully engineered to absorb infrared wavelengths (about 800–1,600 nanometers) and re-emit them in the visible spectrum (roughly 400–700 nm), which can then be perceived by the human eye. 
In practice, when someone wearing the lenses looks into a dark environment illuminated by infrared light sources (e.g. IR LEDs), the lenses convert the IR signals into visible colors. In early tests, human participants were able to detect flickering infrared signals (similar to Morse code) and even determine the direction from which the IR light came.
Because the lenses remain transparent, wearers can see both the normal visible world and the converted infrared-derived view simultaneously — something impossible with bulky night-vision goggles. 

Results & Limitations

In experiments on mice, those fitted with the NIR-converting contact lenses exhibited behavior and physiological signals — such as pupil contraction — consistent with perception of infrared light, and brain imaging confirmed activation in visual processing areas. 
In human trials, participants wearing the lenses could reliably perceive infrared signals in a dark room when presented via LED sources. 

However, there are important caveats: the images produced through the lenses remain relatively blurry. Because the converted light is emitted close to the retina, scattering of light reduces spatial resolution, so fine detail is difficult to discern. 
Moreover, the current lenses require a bright infrared light source — they are not yet sensitive enough to pick up very faint natural thermal radiation (e.g. the low-level IR emitted by human body heat in normal settings). 
To address this limitation, the research team also developed a wearable glasses version using the same upconversion nanoparticle approach, which produced higher-resolution infrared images under controlled IR illumination. 

Potential Applications

Although still in early proof-of-concept stage, the technology holds exciting promise. Because the lenses allow humans to detect infrared — a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum normally invisible — they could eventually expand human vision beyond its natural bounds. Some potential application areas include:

• Seeing in low-visibility conditions: In dimly lit environments, fog, or dust — where normal vision or even standard cameras struggle — IR-converting lenses might help people perceive obstacles, shapes, or signage. 

• Medical and diagnostic use: With further refinement, such lenses or related wearable devices might help visualize subtle differences in heat emission — for instance, detecting inflammation, blood flow, or thermal anomalies in medical diagnostics (though this remains speculative at present).

• Surveillance, security, or rescue operations: Because the technology could allow discreet “night vision” without bulky equipment, it might be useful for search-and-rescue teams, firefighters, or security personnel operating in darkness or low light.

• Augmenting vision for special needs: The researchers also demonstrated that by tuning the nanoparticles to different infrared wavelengths, they can “color-code” IR into visible red, green, or blue light — which raises the possibility of helping people with color blindness or other vision impairments perceive a broader spectrum. 

Why earlier claims about graphene from the University of Tokyo may be incorrect

Your original version mentioned graphene-based sensors developed at the University of Tokyo, harvesting energy from body heat, blinking, and internal circuits — but according to publicly available reporting, the actual innovation comes from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), and is based on upconversion nanoparticles embedded in polymer contact lenses, not on graphene sensors. 
Thus, at this time, there is no verified public research about graphene-based “self-powered” night-vision contact lenses from University of Tokyo.

Outlook

The invention of IR-converting contact lenses is a remarkable—and potentially transformative—advance in vision technology. Yet it remains early days; image quality and sensitivity still need significant improvement before the technology becomes practical outside the lab. As the researchers themselves note, further work is required to increase spatial resolution and detect weaker infrared signals, which would bring us closer to “true night vision” or thermal vision that works under natural conditions. 

Still, by extending human perception beyond the visible spectrum, this research hints at a future in which wearable optics might give humans “super-vision” — a future where darkness, fog, or dust no longer limit what we can see.