Photo: Screenshot of the Science and Technology Daily

A Chinese research team has developed the world's first self-powered eye-tracking system that generates electricity from blinking, enabling eye-controlled wheelchairs for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the Science and Technology Daily reported on Sunday.

The system was developed by a team led by Long Yunze, a professor at Qingdao University, in collaboration with research partners. The findings were published in Cell Reports Physical Science, a journal under Cell Press, and featured as a headline story by Cell Press.

The system overcomes the long-standing power supply bottleneck of conventional eye-tracking devices. Existing mature products rely on external power sources, which has been a major barrier to practical use. For patients attempting to control wheelchairs with traditional eye-tracking systems, heavy head-mounted equipment, tangled power cables and frequent low-battery alerts often erect a "high wall" between them and independent mobility, according to the report.

To address this challenge, Long's team proposed a new approach: letting the eyes generate their own power. The self-powered eye-tracking system adopts a dual-layer design combining a contact lens and a pair of eyeglass frames. It is ultra-lightweight, feels no different from wearing ordinary glasses, and draws all the energy it needs from eye movements, eliminating batteries and achieving true energy self-sufficiency.

Long said that the system effectively builds a "mini power plant" within the eye. A layer of polydimethylsiloxane, attached to the eyeball like a contact lens, functions as a micro triboelectric generator, continuously producing electric charges through friction whenever the user blinks or moves their eyes, according to the report.

A pair of eyeglasses fitted with transparent indium tin oxide electrodes around the lenses serves as a "signal transmitter." Through electrostatic induction, the electrodes precisely capture changes in charge distribution and convert them in real time into recognizable electrical signals, which are then relayed via control circuits to external devices, enabling accurate control, per the report.

Moving the technology from the laboratory to wide application will require overcoming a range of commercialization challenges. "We are actively engaging with relevant companies to explore cooperation pathways and advance the industrialization process," said Zhang Jun, a core member of the research team and a specially appointed professor at the School of Physical Sciences, Qingdao University, the report said.

Beyond wheelchair control and assisted communication, the system can be integrated with virtual reality headsets, allowing users to control display content solely through eye movements, eliminating bulky equipment and offering more versatile options for future human-machine interaction, according to media reports.

Global Times