Technicians and scientists are developing new lenses which will focus automatically and which will allow the user to see correctly from any distance.
As time goes by it is normal to lose some quality in near vision: this is what is known as presbyopia or tired eyesight. From 40 years old onwards our eyes gradually lose their capacity to focus correctly objects which are near making it necessary to wear eyeglasses to correct presbyopia.
Now, an Israeli enterprise called “DeepOptics” is developing modern lenses which they have called “Omnifocal lenses” and which promise an important revolution in the industry of prescription eyeglasses. These new lenses are manufactured using materials and technology to provide an auto-focus in real time depending on the object seen by the user.
How do they work?
These lenses incorporate sensors located close to the bridge of the frame and they can detect where the user’s pupils are looking to. This way they can determine, taking into account the changes of pupilarity distance, if the user is looking to an object which is far o near.
A micro- computer located in the temples receives the signals from the sensors and calculates, with high accuracy, the distance where the object that the user is trying to see is located. Just in a matter of milliseconds this computer sends a signal to the lenses to be adjusted.
The lenses include a layer of liquid crystal. This layer is the one which changes its shape depending on the signal transmitted by the computer. Therefore the lenses are prepared by default to see far objects. When the user looks to near object the system will automatically change the properties of the lenses to allow the user have a clear vision.
Still in development
This new application for eyeglasses is really complex, although the adaptive liquid crystal system has been used before in smartphones’ cameras. Nevertheless we are talking about a really innovative product and which will mean an important and beneficial advance in people from all over the world: we all will have presbyopia.
This promising advance already has the support of the most important lenses manufacturer of the world: Essilor. The Frech company have announced and inversion of 4 million dollars to develop this project.
A time of two years has been estimated to begin with the tests in real people. Until then we will have to resign ourselves to the use of progressive lenses. But remember: always using high quality lenses.