Switchable focus glasses.....................
Prototype switchable focus glasses were developed at the University of Arizona and Georgia Tech. Industry will commercialize a more attractive version. (Photo: University of Arizona)
In the foreseeable future, for example, you won’t change prescription eyeglasses—your eye doctor will just tweak a new prescription into the specs you already own.
See the whole report at: http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=922
:hammer:
It will be interesting to see what comes of this. Liquid crystals between two layers of glass......I had a calculator once that I dropped off my desk and I know what it's LCD looked like; will people be able to handle delicate lenses like these?
"I just opened the case and they were like that!"
They will make them with hardened glass to pass the drop ball test. :DOriginally Posted by Ory
I wonder if we could get them with an in-house Ar and apply our own Diamond Slick Coat? ;)
:cheers:
anything less than EXPENSIVE (compared with finished/surfaced lens technology) in my lifetime...
and I welcome it for that VERY reason!!!! ($$$$$$)
But...you forget one factor (morbius)...MONSTERS FROM THE ID!!
Wearing the same style frame *all* the time (many many years?) is SOOOO BORING!!!
This technology is unnecessary...if its goal is to replace current eyewwear modalities...
If it is to enhance...than bring it on!
My 3 cents
Barry
If this is where they are in the prototype stage we are looking at 7-10 years before they are commercially available. And then at $2000 dollars a pair, another 15 years before they are universally accepted. Most of us will be retired by then. Before all that happens, accomadative IOLs will replace LASIK AND specs. We referred 2 patients for accomadative IOLs this year. Both completely thrilled.
About 10 years ago I saw an RX pair of specs with a switch on the temple and a couple of wires and batteries. When you hit the swich the lenses went dark. Hit it again and they go clear. Aside from a 9mm center thickness on a -2.50 and being as heavy as welding mask they cost almost $400 per pair wholesale.
(I dont think they would clear airport security in todays world)
In the fifties, Popular science magazine published "switchable focus" glasses, they were the wave of the future. They worked by having the wearer pump water from a small container hidden in a pocket, into a tube which ran to the specs. It then "inflated" a thin glass membrane on the front of the specs, and allowed the wearer to read. When completed, the water would run down the tube, and back into the pocket. This new technology looks better, but about as bulky.
Conservative.............
Barry...........that was an ultra conservative statement fitting the optical trade. Resist all new techniques because it has been going well, so far with what we have been using.
Times are changing fast, but people will only accept something new after it has been arouind for a while, like a few years. If this thing ever evolves into a usable item there will be plenty of new innovations to make it less boring and very fashionable.
New technology is great if it is cost effective. If it is just another way of doing something and the new technology costs more for the same result there is probably not a viable market.
This looks like it is one of those new technologies.
About 25 years ago, I read (and have looked for follow-ups in vain) about a Japanese experiment with a lens that changed index electricly. Hadn't seen anything since except a couple months ago I seem to have come across something about this now being available in a line of digital cameras. Think, some day you could have sensor that automaticly adjust for accomodation.
Chip:cheers:
I see Barry remembers the Krell.
Last edited by chip anderson; 11-23-2006 at 03:45 PM. Reason: Krell
This looks like.................
I rememmber times, not so long ago, when we all thought that a camera lens could never focus and automatically adjust for distance, today it even measures the light and adjust's and compensates for a pergect picture.
On the contray, I consider myself quite progerssive. It just that any approach to eyewear that tries to overly extend the useful life of an individual pair of glasses, or tries to supplant eyewear altogether (Refractive surgery, CLs and monovision contacts)...thereby implying that "if you don't need to spend money on (Rx) eyewear...don't!) is totally against my convictions for this industry's survival...and forward movement
Barry
Just found another ones........................
Switch-a-Vision: Electric spectacles could aid aging eyes
Peter Weiss
LOOK OUT. Electric signals from microchips in the black boxes attached to these prototype eyeglasses change focus settings to improve near vision.
Li et al./PNAS
In bifocals, some portion of the lens remains unfocused for the distance of interest at any given time, notes Mathine. In the new eyeglasses, the entire lens switches to the desired focus. For close vision, for instance, "you don't have just the bottom half of your eyeglasses. You get the whole view," he says.
See whole articel at http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060422/fob2.asp
Surely someone could make a far less heavy, ugly, less complex devise with a simple two lens system (per eye) and manuel adjustment. Much like a simple eye piece in a binocular or microscope.
What about astigmatism? prism? faceform? off axis viewing? photochromic? What about those black controller boxes along the temples? Will they cause cancer? Maybe someone can build a cell phone or iPod into them..no wait...how about a GPS?
No...maybe a garage door opener, or a TV remote control...so all you have to do is look at the object...think of the profit possibilities.
I like the thick black braided wires. They look like huge bushy eyebrows!
Keep in mind that this is not an electronic reincarnation of the "fluid lens" that was brought up previously in this thread. It's not a simple lens - it's an array of very small lenses, a little bit like the compound eye of a housefly. In this aspect, it is something not altogether different from the iZon lenses that were being discussed here just a week or so back.
Pixel's lenses dynamically alter the focus in ways not possible before. By adjusting the refractive index of an array of transparent pixels contained within the lens, it is possible to correct for the higher-order aberrations. This optimizes one's vision, in many cases, beyond how one sees today. Credit: PixelOptics.
Bill Kokonaski, Chief Technology Officer of Pixel, noted: "Higher-order aberrations of the human eye are dynamic, not static. Conventional refractive error such as myopia (nearsighted), hyperopia (farsighted) and regular astigmatism are static. However, higher-order aberrations change depending upon many factors, including the environment. Pixel's patented technology allows for a dynamic solution to a dynamic problem. The technology uses sensors and electro-active transparent material to alter the index of refraction of the lens dynamically. This provides for the ability to alter the eyeglass correction in real time depending upon the individual's environment. It should be pointed out that Pixel's solution for SuperVision will not only help military personnel who need eyeglasses but also many of those who currently do not wear or need eyeglasses to potentially see better than 20/20." Source: PixelOptics to Develop SuperVision for U.S. Military.
As someone who is not directly involved in the eyecare industry, I don't have a dog in this race, but I think this technology has real possibilities. It may not appear first or perhaps ever as a lens for the general population. But what about the plumbers, painters, carpenters, auto mechanics and the like who posted here about their exceptional vision requirements? I think this technology also has possibilities as the basis for more flexible and capable phoropters. I think it has potential for replacing today's trial lenses. Just looking at it from a layman's POV.
I don't think that miniaturizing the electronic components will prove to be an intractable problem. Those ugly lookin' prototypes are just a proof of concept. First the science - then the product engineering.
If you find this post helpful, please click or select the "Woody" icon to send a vote to the SETI@home forum and move me closer to my goal of being elected a SETI@home User Of The Day. You will receive an instant (or almost instant) audio confirmation of your vote.
Last edited by rinselberg; 03-02-2009 at 12:29 PM.
You amaze me......................
Rinselberg..........of course gave you mi vote, however did not hear any confirmation, hope you get elected.
:cheers:
I'm telling you guys, before all this happens, accomodating IOLs will be the next wave. And Barry, you don't have any control over the industry. Better go with the flow.
Does this mean our engineer patients can now perform their own refraction and prescribing at home? Because if there isn't a very good reason they can't (like needing a key or something) then you know they will...and we won't seem them again for 30 years.
Oh, wait, that's a good thing!:cheers:
Now they just need a big plastic nose inserted.
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