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Virginia Company Creates Dynamic Eyeglasses

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the next-step-bionic-eyeballs dept.

tetrahedrassface writes "NewScientistTech is reporting that newly developed 'smart glasses' can change focus instantly from long distance to reading mode. The dynamic glasses change focus using a 5-micron-thick layer of nematic liquid crystal, sandwiched between two pieces of glass, and will be commercially available in 2 years by PixalOptics."

39 comments

  1. Lasers by olego · · Score: 3, Insightful

    "The idea is to put the focusing power found in the lens of a camera on your face all the time."

    That means that the glasses would also require batteries, and would need recharging, and would be heavy at first. Sounds a bit too much.

    1. Re:Lasers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That means that the glasses would also require batteries, and would need recharging, and would be heavy at first. Sounds a bit too much.

      Aligning liquid crystals doesn't take much power. How long does the battery on a digital watch with LCD screen last? Years. How big is the battery? Tiny.

    2. Re:Lasers by Genoxide · · Score: 1

      Think about how small Bluetooth headsets are already.. even thoug glasses would still have to have some sort of attachment, or maybe just be a bit thicker in the framework. I really don't see this as a big problem.. but that might be because I don't use glasses myself :/

    3. Re:Lasers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why didn't they already made hidraulic lenses (http://link.aip.org/link/?APPLAB/86/103902/1) glasses? With pressure-adjusted focus they wouldn't need batteries, just a mechanical setup (screw actuator) to work.

    4. Re:Lasers by notthepainter · · Score: 1
      That means that the glasses would also require batteries, and would need recharging, and would be heavy at first. Sounds a bit too much.
      You must be under 40, right? I'd add the weight if these things worked...
    5. Re:Lasers by olego · · Score: 1

      You're right - I'm slightly over half that age. :-)

  2. Sold! by jcr · · Score: 1

    I'm all over that. What a freaking brilliant invention.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  3. Coke bottles... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Even the Coke bottle glasses are getting a new technological update these days. Used to be you could tell a geek by the thickness of his glasses.

  4. At the flick of a switch? by PieSquared · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I see two problems with using a switch to change distance viewing. The first is, of course, that it's not totally convient. The second is that it limits the possible viewing distances. This doesn't seem a problem to people without glasses, or at worst bifocals, but I know someone who needs trifocals. Why not wait a bit on this technology until they can take a picture of your eyes to see how far away the focal distance is and get a perfect focus?

    --
    Does a line appended to your comment give your post meaning in and of itself, or only in relation to those without?
    1. Re:At the flick of a switch? by Krach42 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Why not wait a bit on this technology until they can take a picture of your eyes to see how far away the focal distance is and get a perfect focus?

      For the ultimate in lazy, the Ultrafoci Glasses(tm) are perfect for you!

      Tired of focusing your eyes? We'll do it for you!

      --

      I am unamerican, and proud of it!
    2. Re:At the flick of a switch? by Hillbert · · Score: 1

      As far as limiting the possible viewing distances goes, it's not really a big issue. Most people who wear bifocals do it because they can't accommodate anymore - the crystalline lens in the eye can't change its shape like it used to. Normally, when you want to look at something at near, your lens gets more curved, adding more dioptric power to the eye so that the image stays in focus; as you get older, the lens gets denser and less flexible and you can't accommodate anymore.

      Now, that doesn't mean that when you're 40 and start needing reading glasses, that you have no accommodation left; it's just less. So if these glasses are set for focusing at near being, say, 40cm, and you want to look at something 30cm away, your eyes should still be able to make up the difference. (In fact, the "reading add" used in bifocals doesn't totally eliminate the need to accommodate; it just reduces the level of accommodation needed to a level that the wearer can handle. Usually you can focus on something really close for a short period of time, but it gets kinda uncomfortable fairly quickly, so the reading glasses are meant to reduce this stress.)

      For much older people (say, 65+) and those who wear trifocals, this may or may not cut it. But for a lot of people who have bifocals or progressive multifocals, it'd be much better to have your whole field of vision focused at the same spot.

  5. cool by MikeFM · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've wondered why they didn't do this before. It's cool that they finally are. It'll be great when these measure the eye and adjust focus automatically to where you're trying to look and to correct your vision as it changes over time. I imagine the electronics should be pretty easy to scale down as I can't think of any reason why these would be very complicated. Battery life shouldn't be to big a deal. I wonder if they could be kept charged by the user's motion between full recharges.

    --
    At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    1. Re:cool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, why didn't they do this before!!! While they are doing it, they should make them automatically shade your eyes when you look at the sun. And they could also display your favorite stock tickers. And block out ugly peoples heads.

      I mean, seriously, why not? I imagine the electronics should be pretty easy. I can't think of any reason why these would be very complicated. Battery life? Heck, that's no problem at all, they can be solar!

      Jeez.

    2. Re:cool by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      Auto-shading is a good idea but then they already have transition lenses so I dunno why you'd want to do it with electronics.

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    3. Re:cool by serutan · · Score: 1

      I've been wondering when somebody would come up with dynamic lenses too. A friend of mine is a scanhead engineer for a medical ultrasound company. Scanheads tend to focus on a specific distance, so the image you get is sort of like a single slice of a CAT scan. For years I've been trying to get him interested in designing a scanhead that dynamically slides back and forth through a range of shapes and frequencies. If you integrated the data from the scans you could come up with a 3-d image of live tissue that would be way easier to interpret than what they have now. All I could think of was a flexible, liquid-filled lens adjusted hydraulically. I think using voltage-controlled liquid crystals to create a dynamic fresnel is a real stroke of genius.

  6. Have you seen the picture? by chord.wav · · Score: 1


    These pair of babies will make you the geekest of all times, including the tronguy

    1. Re:Have you seen the picture? by colton+cummings · · Score: 1

      These pair of babies will make you the geekest of all times

      That's got to be the funniest variation on a common phrase that I have ever seen.

      --
      XaNk: now I remember why I hated the girls in high school
      XaNk: because none of them would talk to me
  7. This will make... by Quaoar · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...driving while reading slightly less dangerous...

    Slightly...

    --
    I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
  8. What we really want to know by sharkey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Do they come with a handle on the bridge to push them up with, or do you still have to find an aftermarket dealer?








    Oooooooo, the new phonebooks are here!

    --

    --
    "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    1. Re:What we really want to know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Screw that.

      What I wanna know is does it come with an IR rangefinder?

      http://www.inetres.com/gp/anime/iria/iria2_04.jpg

    2. Re:What we really want to know by David+Nabbit · · Score: 1

      It'll be a whole new market for the iPod accessory manufacturers.

      --
      "Her idea of wit is nothing more than an incisive observation humorously phrased and delivered with impeccable timing."
    3. Re:What we really want to know by BeBoxer · · Score: 1

      Do they come with a handle on the bridge to push them up with, or do you still have to find an aftermarket dealer?

      Unfortunately, that's where the laser beam goes so the aftermarket may be out of luck. From the article: These will most probably use an infrared laser built into the bridge of the glasses At least they know enough to use infrared instead of visible lest the wearer go cross-eyed.

  9. Check your watch lately? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Neither have I...

  10. Kinda makes me wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Just how much magnification could be achieved like this? I mean theoretically could it be ramped up to be like binoculars? If so those of us who do not wear glasses in some form (yet) could have a major use for them. Imagine wathcing a ball game of concert in full vision... (right there) with nothing more than a pair of sunglasses on..

    Neat

  11. What happened to the very-low-cost Dutch glasses? by ivi · · Score: 1


      (At least, I think it was Dutch...)

      The idea was to make adjustable (but NOT self-adjusting) glasses
      that could be fitted to anyone.

      I prefer a "general" & "generally affordable" solution -over-
      a "cool" one that poops out when its batteries die...

      My 2 cents (if a bit OT)

  12. Hey There, Geek Boy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "From the focus of your glasses I see you're happy to see me..."

  13. NOT a problem with the lens in your eye! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its not a problem with the lens in your eye, it is a problem with the muscles that surround it becoming looser and unable to squeeze it hard enough to change its shape for close in viewing (hence the "squint" to use larger muscles to partially compensate)

    That's why the little stents they can add around those muscles are able to fix the lack of close up focus that occurs around age 40. It pulls the muscles a bit tighter like they were when you were younger and are now able to focus close again, without impacting your ability to focus at infinity for distance vision (good genes, glasses, contacts or LASIK are still needed for that to be at its best)

    1. Re:NOT a problem with the lens in your eye! by gold23 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Actually, it is the lens. At least, that's the most likely theory.

      Muscles pulling on the lens would make it thinner, magnifying less. So that's not the issue.

      I let my optician's license expire over a decade ago, but I had to put my 2 cents in.

      Take a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyopia

      --
      Trust not a man who's rich in flax / His morals may be sadly lax
    2. Re:NOT a problem with the lens in your eye! by the_pooh_experience · · Score: 1
      Actually, as I understand it, the problem with presbyopia is both the lens, itself as well as the muscles around the eye. If you read one more sentence on the link you provide, it states as much. Quoted here for the sake of posterity:
      Presbyopia is the eye's diminished power of accommodation that occurs with aging. The most widely held theory is that it arises from the loss of elasticity of the crystalline lens, although changes in the lens' curvature from continual growth and loss of power of the ciliary muscles (the muscles that bend and straighten the lens) have also been postulated as its cause.
    3. Re:NOT a problem with the lens in your eye! by smellsofbikes · · Score: 1

      It IS, though: it's your lens hardening because it's a protein and it cross-links over time. They're now making replacement lenses that are soft, that they attach to the existing muscles in an intraocular lens replacement surgery, and they restore your ability to focus up close -- they erase presbyopia. I didn't get to see the surgery but this 80 year old guy had this done recently and his vision's like he's 15 again, focus from infinity down to a near point of like a foot away from his eye.

      --
      Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
    4. Re:NOT a problem with the lens in your eye! by gold23 · · Score: 1

      Yes, I read the whole article. But please note that the issue of the ciliary muscles is postulated as a cause, while it is certain that the lens hardens over the course of your lifetime.

      --
      Trust not a man who's rich in flax / His morals may be sadly lax
  14. Holy cow! by The+Ultimate+Fartkno · · Score: 4, Funny

    One of the guys in charge of this project used to be my optometrist! I know that that doesn't add the slightest bit of insight to the story, but it's still pretty sweet to be able to say "Hey! Slashdot! The dude you're reading about has had his finger in my eye and used the 'big poof of air to the eyeball' weapon on me!"

    Okay, so sue me. I haven't had mod points in a while and I need validation...

  15. Zippo Bibrox by surajbarkale · · Score: 1, Funny

    But are they peri sensitive ???

    --
    With Great Power Comes No Love Life! - Samit Basu
  16. Holy shit! by I+Like+Pudding · · Score: 1

    Why the hell isn't this a "front page" article? I mean, holy shit, that's amazing!

  17. Does it come with... by Dark+Coder · · Score: 2, Interesting

    All the cool cinematic field and zooming trick?

    Nothing like hooking up a special-effect bud earphone and biofeedback probes with it and watch all the everyday items with increased intensity... such as:

    1. Love of your life.... Optical background scene zooms in but subject matter stays the same size, with slow tempo and increased aria/choral music followed by your silent soft heart thumping sound.

    2. Fear... Refractoral angular re-zoom (without moving your eyes) in on the hazards coupled with Jaws themes

    3. Anxiety... Quirky and continual focusing lens motion couple with the rushing din of noises.

    4. Calm... Added downward microstreaking of lens to simulate rain coupled with waterfall background.

    Far-fetched? Perhaps not much sooner than later...

  18. Improvement Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Combine these with The Clapper to switch from near- to far-field and NOW you've got something!

    (And, regardless of what New Scientist said, it's the University of Arizona, not Arizona State.)

  19. Chick Magnet by masterofhisdomain · · Score: 1

    Nothing says Chick Magnet better than these babies!!!

  20. Early version of this - 1970's? by alispguru · · Score: 1

    I have a vague memory of a Popular Science article ages ago that described variable-focus eyeglasses. They did it with two lenses and a chamber between them - a slider on the eyeglass temple controlled a piston that forced clear liquid into the chamber, changing the shape of the lens assembly.

    The liquid crystal approach is a lot slicker!

    --

    To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
  21. What happens when the battery dies? by gwhenning · · Score: 1
    This is OK as long as when the battery dies you are stuck with long distance vision by default. Otherwise there could be some problems.

    I can see it now, some poor schlub is flying down the freeway, the batteries die and all he can see is everything three feet in front of him and CRASH!

    Driver: "Sorry officer, the batteries in my glasses died and I couldn't see."
    Officer: "Batteries... in glasses???? Ok, arms out to your sides, stand on one foot and touch your nose."