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During World War II, the U.S. Navy wanted to boost sailors' night vision so they could spot infrared signal lights.

According to some reports, they fed volunteers supplements made from the livers of walleyed pikes, and over several months, the volunteers' vision began seeing the infrared region.

While this legendary tale may sound far-fetched, a crowd-funded group of scientists has recreated this experiment and claims to have had successful results.

After several weeks, volunteers using an electroretinogram (ERG) noticed spikes in their vision to 950 nanometres (nm). Infrared falls between about 800nm to 2500nm on the electromagnetic spectrum

Infrared vision helps animals such as snakes see the heat signature of their prey, but without night googles, humans don't have this ability.

The latest experiment was designed by Science for the Masses, a US-based group whose vision is to explore 'non-institutional open source science.'

They claim that by limiting Vitamin A1 in the diet and replacing it with A2, the human body increase its production of something called porphyropsin.

This is the protein complex that grants near infrared (NIR) vision to freshwater fish - and so, they say, can give humans completely natural infrared vision.

Vitamin A1 is commonly found in green and yellow-pigmented vegetables including bell peppers and carrots. Vitamin A2, on the other hand, is derived from fish livers.

Infrared vision helps animals such as snakes see the heat signature of their prey, but without night googles, humans don't have this ability. The latest experiment was designed by Science for the Masses, a US-based group whose vision is to explore 'non-institutional open source science'

They claim that by limiting Vitamin A1 in the diet and replacing it with A2, the body increase its production of something called porphyropsin, which can provide infrared vision like that used by the Terminator (pictured)

The project raised its target $4,000 (£2,400) in October on the scientific crowd-funding site Experiment.

After several weeks, four volunteers using an electroretinogram (ERG) noticed spikes in their vision to 950 nanometres (nm).

It is is not known how the volunteers took their high levels of Vitamin A2.

Infrared falls between about 800nm to 2500nm on the electromagnetic spectrum, meaning they could pick up some heat signatures.

However, there has been some scepticism about the results. Retinal neuroscientist Bryan Jones wrote in Petapixel that no matter what we eat, photoreceptors in our eyes simply cannot pick up any wavelengths of light beyond 650nm.

'These limits in human photoreceptors are based upon molecular structures of photopigments,' he said.

'These photopigments can be "tuned" within a narrow window within the red/blue/green spectrum, but getting them to be sensitive to infrared wavelengths is impossible within the limits of physics or biophysics.' 

THE CONTACT LENS THAT COULD LET YOU SEE IN THE DARK 

Researchers have unveiled plans for a contact lens that could give its wearer infrared 'night vision'

Researchers have unveiled plans for a smart contact lens that could give its wearer infrared 'night vision'.

The team say that by sandwiching graphene inside the lens they can build a sensor capable of capturing every from visible light to infrared.

They have already built a prototype smaller than a fingernail, and experts say it could one day be built into lenses for soldiers and others who need to see in the dark.

Zhaohui Zhong at the University of Michigan say their layered approach can lead to ultrathin sensors.

'We can make the entire design super-thin,' said Professor Zhong, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering It can be stacked on a contact lens or integrated with a cell phone.'

The prototype device created by Professor Zhong is already 'smaller than a pinky nail' and can be easily scaled down.

'If we integrate it with a contact lens or other wearable electronics, it expands your vision,' Professor Zhong said. 'It provides you another way of interacting with your environment.'