7 ms·

Night vision glasses: nanocrystals allow direct vision into infrared

116 points by joshsharp 10y ago

gentleteblor 10y ago
I hope this "trickles down" to medical applications fairly soon. I have awful night vision, and a pair of normal looking night vision glasses would be just the thing.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
proaralyst 10y ago
I wonder what other applications this could support. Better colour displays, where a monochromatic LED is converted to one of R, G and B?
- mc32 10y ago
  I think they said it right there Military applications. And if price is low enough, you could use it to enable people to do outdoor work at night when it's less hot in arid/hot areas with less risk of injury (due to better vision), etc.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- drbigglesworth 10y ago
  Nanocrystals (semiconductor quantum dots) are already being used for some LCD displays to increase color gamut. Using QDs for LED emitters is an area of active R&D.
deutronium 10y ago
This sounds very cool, I'm curious what wavelengths of IR they can convert.
cthulhuology 10y ago
Reading the article it hints at the reality that it doesn't actually work like passive glasses as it implies. the blueshift effect happens because they're using a laser to excite the crystal and it later emits the shifted light, but you have to pump a lot of energy in for that output. Simple conservation of energy implies this won't work for normal night vision applications, instead they want to shine a laser spotlight and use the reflected infrared laser light for vision. cool material science for sure, but not a replacement for nightvision goggles which don't broadcast your position with a bight spotlight.
- dom0 10y ago
  > but not a replacement for nightvision goggles which don't broadcast your position with a bight spotlight. To be fair that's exactly where NVD technology started out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zielger%C3%A4t_1229 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zielger%C3%A4t_1229
- colanderman 10y ago
  > Simple conservation of energy implies this won't work for normal night vision applications Not at all. For a single photon, sure. But in aggregate many low-energy photons can charge a material to emit fewer high-energy photons. Ex. https://www.newport.com/f/near-infrared-nir-sensor-cards https://www.newport.com/f/near-infrared-nir-sensor-cards
  - jessriedel 10y ago
    Yea, in fact I think it's the second law (no entropy decrease) rather than first law (energy conservation) which is the restriction. Devices up-converting photons to higher frequencies require power input.
    - hinkley 10y ago
      But you can turn three infrared photons into a single red photon, if the energy levels add up. That would, for instance, allow you to make safety goggles for detecting hot spots. Could be useful for firefighters or factory workers. The problem with a passive device would be that if you walked past something hot enough your goggles would white out (well, red out), and you might be effectively blind. At least with the passive device you can turn it off briefly so you can see where you're going.
dharma1 10y ago
This is awesome. Had the same idea when i was about 15, great to see someone making it. I wonder if it will work just for IR or also other parts of the non-visible spectrum
kneel 10y ago
These night vision glasses don't exist and the use of the phrase 'allow direct vision' is misleading seeing as they're using high powered lasers to see the blue shift. This lab has only made a nanocrystal that might enable this technology one day. The fact that everyone in the linked video is wearing funny looking green glasses is misleading, those are just safety glasses. These types of news blips are depressingly common in developmental science. I can guarantee they're just looking to secure more funding.
- aluhut 10y ago
  If I could, I would fund them. Sounds pretty good. I've seen worse ideas receiving funding.
- dhimes 10y ago
  Thank you. I was wondering where they got the extra energy from, as IR is less energetic than visible. Did they use two photons to get one (ie, reduce the intensity)? No. They use a separate light source. So the advantage here over current tech is that you are able to see the visible also, it seems. That is, you're looking through glass and getting all of the visible plus enhanced IR.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- tlb 10y ago
  Also, it wouldn't preserve the direction of photons. So you couldn't just put a sheet of something in front of your eyes, you'd have to have a lens to focus the incoming image on a screen, and another lens for your eyes to focus on the screen.
zokier 10y ago
I'd point out that night-vision and IR vision can (and even maybe should) be considered distinct, even though admittedly they are widely mixed up in common parlance. But especially in military night vision devices are usually based on the principle of image intensification, i.e. amplifying the light in visible spectrum, instead of IR imaging.
- smaddox 10y ago
  Not quite, since night vision goggles also amplify near IR light, which is much more abundant at night than visible light (e.g. starlight). Also, they can be coupled with IR LEDs or bulbs in order to gain a tactical advantage over an enemy without night vision. That being said, night vision and thermal vision are distinct.
jaclaz 10y ago
Maybe in 5 years time and IF DARPA will allow it: >They hope within five years they will have a prototype of their invention that will allow the production of affordable, lightweight night-vision glasses, as simple to wear as a pair of sunnies. >Professor Neshev said they are discussing their next steps with DARPA, a research and development arm of the US Department of Defence.
dosshell 10y ago
Did they take the biggest night googles available for the "traditional" picture? Those I have used from the military where much much smaller (but they did not have autofocus). I agree with some of the comments here: that it is misleading that they are not passive and that no prototype exist. Even if it is a good idea I would never invest in a company which is not always totally honest, even in headings and pictures.

116 points by joshsharp 10y ago

I hope this "trickles down" to medical applications fairly soon. I have awful night vision, and a pair of normal looking night vision glasses would be just the thing.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

proaralyst 10y ago

I wonder what other applications this could support. Better colour displays, where a monochromatic LED is converted to one of R, G and B?

mc32 10y ago
I think they said it right there Military applications. And if price is low enough, you could use it to enable people to do outdoor work at night when it's less hot in arid/hot areas with less risk of injury (due to better vision), etc.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
drbigglesworth 10y ago
Nanocrystals (semiconductor quantum dots) are already being used for some LCD displays to increase color gamut. Using QDs for LED emitters is an area of active R&D.

deutronium 10y ago

This sounds very cool, I'm curious what wavelengths of IR they can convert.

cthulhuology 10y ago

Reading the article it hints at the reality that it doesn't actually work like passive glasses as it implies. the blueshift effect happens because they're using a laser to excite the crystal and it later emits the shifted light, but you have to pump a lot of energy in for that output. Simple conservation of energy implies this won't work for normal night vision applications, instead they want to shine a laser spotlight and use the reflected infrared laser light for vision. cool material science for sure, but not a replacement for nightvision goggles which don't broadcast your position with a bight spotlight.

dom0 10y ago
> but not a replacement for nightvision goggles which don't broadcast your position with a bight spotlight. To be fair that's exactly where NVD technology started out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zielger%C3%A4t_1229 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zielger%C3%A4t_1229
colanderman 10y ago
> Simple conservation of energy implies this won't work for normal night vision applications Not at all. For a single photon, sure. But in aggregate many low-energy photons can charge a material to emit fewer high-energy photons. Ex. https://www.newport.com/f/near-infrared-nir-sensor-cards https://www.newport.com/f/near-infrared-nir-sensor-cards
- jessriedel 10y ago
  Yea, in fact I think it's the second law (no entropy decrease) rather than first law (energy conservation) which is the restriction. Devices up-converting photons to higher frequencies require power input.
  - hinkley 10y ago
    But you can turn three infrared photons into a single red photon, if the energy levels add up. That would, for instance, allow you to make safety goggles for detecting hot spots. Could be useful for firefighters or factory workers. The problem with a passive device would be that if you walked past something hot enough your goggles would white out (well, red out), and you might be effectively blind. At least with the passive device you can turn it off briefly so you can see where you're going.

dharma1 10y ago

This is awesome. Had the same idea when i was about 15, great to see someone making it. I wonder if it will work just for IR or also other parts of the non-visible spectrum

kneel 10y ago

These night vision glasses don't exist and the use of the phrase 'allow direct vision' is misleading seeing as they're using high powered lasers to see the blue shift. This lab has only made a nanocrystal that might enable this technology one day. The fact that everyone in the linked video is wearing funny looking green glasses is misleading, those are just safety glasses. These types of news blips are depressingly common in developmental science. I can guarantee they're just looking to secure more funding.

aluhut 10y ago
If I could, I would fund them. Sounds pretty good. I've seen worse ideas receiving funding.
dhimes 10y ago
Thank you. I was wondering where they got the extra energy from, as IR is less energetic than visible. Did they use two photons to get one (ie, reduce the intensity)? No. They use a separate light source. So the advantage here over current tech is that you are able to see the visible also, it seems. That is, you're looking through glass and getting all of the visible plus enhanced IR.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
tlb 10y ago
Also, it wouldn't preserve the direction of photons. So you couldn't just put a sheet of something in front of your eyes, you'd have to have a lens to focus the incoming image on a screen, and another lens for your eyes to focus on the screen.

zokier 10y ago

I'd point out that night-vision and IR vision can (and even maybe should) be considered distinct, even though admittedly they are widely mixed up in common parlance. But especially in military night vision devices are usually based on the principle of image intensification, i.e. amplifying the light in visible spectrum, instead of IR imaging.

smaddox 10y ago
Not quite, since night vision goggles also amplify near IR light, which is much more abundant at night than visible light (e.g. starlight). Also, they can be coupled with IR LEDs or bulbs in order to gain a tactical advantage over an enemy without night vision. That being said, night vision and thermal vision are distinct.

jaclaz 10y ago

Maybe in 5 years time and IF DARPA will allow it: >They hope within five years they will have a prototype of their invention that will allow the production of affordable, lightweight night-vision glasses, as simple to wear as a pair of sunnies. >Professor Neshev said they are discussing their next steps with DARPA, a research and development arm of the US Department of Defence.

dosshell 10y ago

Did they take the biggest night googles available for the "traditional" picture? Those I have used from the military where much much smaller (but they did not have autofocus). I agree with some of the comments here: that it is misleading that they are not passive and that no prototype exist. Even if it is a good idea I would never invest in a company which is not always totally honest, even in headings and pictures.