Researchers devise a full-color night vision goggle

Key Points:

• Researchers at Beijing Institute of Technology developed a device that converts different infrared wavelengths into distinct visible colors, enabling a more natural color vision of infrared light compared to traditional monochrome night-vision goggles.
• The device uses mercury telluride colloidal quantum dots to selectively absorb infrared light and a dual-layer OLED with red and cyan phosphor layers, which together translate infrared signals into full-color images by varying color output based on wavelength and intensity.
• This technology allows users to distinguish infrared power differences about 200 times smaller than conventional brightness-only infrared devices, demonstrated in a lightweight, semi-transparent IR-vision eyeglass prototype.
• Tests showed the device can stimulate biological visual systems, eliciting neural responses in cells, mice, and human volunteers, suggesting potential for future visual prosthetics that extend human vision beyond natural limits.
• Challenges remain for real-world application, including device performance in complex infrared environments, power supply needs, and safety concerns related to mercury telluride’s biocompatibility, especially for implantable versions.