Researchers create an electronic lens that works better than the human eye

All this thanks to a previous technology, developed by a team composed of the same researchers. The flat lens design that this new artificial eye takes advantage of is called a metalens. It uses tiny nanostructures to focus the light. In this way, it is able to focus the entire spectrum of visible light at a single point. On the other hand, traditional objectives use several elements to achieve the same feat, which explains their size.

Prior to this latest advance, the SEAS team stated that it was only able to manufacture metals of the "size of a piece of glitter". On the other hand, their latest invention is larger: about one centimeter in diameter. Bigger, better in this case because it is easier to use technology in many modern applications. With cameras, for example, a lens needs to be large enough to cover a sensor and avoid vignetting.

As with any new technology, it will probably be years before the metalenses reach mainstream gadgets. However, their potential is undeniable. Combined with even smaller computer chips, headsets for virtual and augmented reality could become sufficiently small and comfortable when the technology becomes attractive to the average consumer.