Smart glasses let you turn off the lights in the blink of an eye

Blink and the lights go out. A sensor on a pair of glasses that can pick up the motion of your skin when you blink could be used to switch the lights on and off, or to help those with limited or no mobility write messages on a computer. "The good thing about the technology is the high sensitivity, which may become particularly useful in places where the motion is very limited," says Ambarish Ghosh at the Indian Institute of Science, who wasn't involved in the research. The sensor, called a triboelectric generator, is thin enough to fit on the arms of a pair of glasses. It is made from multiple polymer layers with a coating of metal that acts as an electrode.