Make a Fake Contact Lens Using Tears

You are probably aware of how contact lenses work; they are shaped to refract light to help the eyes focus. What you might not have thought about, however, is that you can use tears to make a temporary "contact lens" for your eye which actually lets you read text quite clearly at a very short distance!

Steps

  1. Prepare by finding a book or a sheet of paper with small to very small print.
  2. Sit at a desk or table where you place the book or paper. You must be able to easily bend over the text and look straight down at it at an approximate distance of 5-10cm (2-4 inches).
  3. Make your eyes water (produce tears). This is the most difficult step of the process, but you basically have three choices: (1) Many people are very tired in the middle of the day, when some yawns can generate considerable amounts of tears; (2) Slice an onion and hold a piece under your eye; (3) Do this activity when you are actually crying.
  4. When you have a good amount of tears in either eye, bend over the table and face straight down. It is important that you try to blink as little as possible - preferably not at all. You should be able to refrain from blinking for a few seconds, because the eye is already very moist from the tears.
  5. Use a hand to cover (or even close) the eye with the least amount of tears in it. It might be difficult to determine which eye to cover, but the important thing is that you cover one eye; the text will be so close that it is impossible to use both eyes at once to read it.
  6. Again, while trying not to blink (refraining from blinking takes some practice), move your seeing eye down and over the text. Move your head straight up or down to find the optimal distance so that the text will be in focus. A good starting point is to have the eye 5-10cm (2-4 inches) above the text.
  7. If you are lucky, with the amount of tears and the distance to the text, you should be able to read even very small print easily at a very close distance.

Tips

  • When looking at the text, try not to scan around by moving the eye; move your head in stead. The eye should be looking straight downwards so that the "lens" stays fixed in place.
  • Experiment to find the optimal tear amount. You can reduce the amount of tears by careful blinking.
  • More tears does not necessarily mean a better lens, unfortunately. Too much tears will not produce an ideal shape of a lens, and the width of the focal point (where text appears clear and in focus) could be greatly reduced.

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