Tuesday, December 23, 2008

British physics professor perfects "tunable eyeglasses" -- no eye doctor required

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/23/british-physics-professor-perfects-tunable-eyeglasses-no-ey/

We've seen small scale liquid lenses progress from concepts to commerical applications, and now Joshua Silver, a retired physics professor at Oxford University, has perfected what he calls "adaptive glasses," applying similar tech in a singular and ingenious way. Aimed at helping developing nations where glasses are expensive and doctors are often in short supply, Silver's spectacles are made of tough plastic with with silicon liquid in the lenses. When purchased, each lense will have a syringe attached to it, and the wearer will be able to adjust the amount of liquid in the lenses -- which essentially changes the prescription -- without the need for an optician. About 10,000 pairs have been distributed in Ghana on a trial basis, with plans to distribute one million pairs in India in the next year -- the ultimate goal is one billion by 2020. And somewhere else in the world, a room full of opticians cry into their beer.

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British physics professor perfects "tunable eyeglasses" -- no eye doctor required originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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