SkyLight project turns iPhones into microscopes

We already knew the iPhone 4S camera was good thanks to its small pixel size and backlit sensor. That’s helping the iPhone 4S rise up the ranks of most popular camera on Flickr. It may also help the iPhone 4S become the most used smartphone in a microscope.

Before you think, “say what?” have a gander at this 400x video scan of a tubular adenoma of the colon, taken with an iPhone 4S and the Skylight, a smartphone adapter for microscopes that’s now a Kickstarter project.

The SkyLight actually works with nearly any other smartphone as well, but it should excel with an iPhone 4S, if not some of the high-end Nokia models that use superb optics. Most focusing is done on the microscope itself, but the SkyLight relies upon a smartphone’s auto-focus feature for fine focusing.

This Kickstarter project already raised more than $22,000, which is greater than the $15,000 goal originally set. CSI types can still get in on the action with a pledge of $60 or more for a SkyLight. The microscope? You’ll have to supply that yourself.

I especially like how you can record video through the microscope with a SkyLight. Kids telling parents about what they saw in biology class is one thing; to share an actual video is quite a different experience.

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