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17 Jun 2002
Auto focus spectacles are set to make hazy vision a story for the history books.
Bifocal or trifocal spectacle wearers often suffer from distorted vision, but optics scientists at the US-based University of Arizona are tackling this problem by developing glasses with lenses that focus automatically.
Bernard Kippelen and colleagues' will base their new generation of auto focus spectacles on electroactive materials that are embedded into battery powered microcomputer-programmable adaptive lenses. Operating like an auto focus camera system, the spectacles will direct an infrared beam to the object that the wearer is looking at. The microprocessor will calculate the power needed to bring the object into focus and program the electroactive material to bend the light as required at all points across the lens.
Kippelen's team, which is backed by US product developer The Egg Factory, say that the electroactive material is crucial to the glasses. "The components to make such glasses don't exist today," said Kippelen. "There's still a lot of research to be done, so we are working on several ideas to get the high-performance materials that we need."
As well as developing the right electroactive material, Kippelen believes that cosmetic aspects are a crucial part of their work. "There is a huge gap between adaptive optics for telescopes and glasses," he said. "People are going to have to wear these glasses so they are going to have to look good."
The researchers are hoping to develop and sell the first auto focus glasses within the next four years.
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