Eyelid

This highly magnified image of an “artificial eyelid” developed by University of Florida researchers shows the tiny shutters at the heart of the device. Each shutter is about 1/32 of an inch, or about the diameter of the human hair. When a sensor detects light, the shutters can close as quickly as 1/10,000th of a second. The device is intended to protect military pilots and optical equipment from disabling laser attacks, but consumer applications are likely to range from programmable sunglasses to better cameras.