Smart Glasses

A new technology could revolutionize the way eyeglass-wearers view the world – adaptive lenses that automatically focus on whatever the user is looking at. The device would eliminate the need to swap between different pairs of glasses and allow prescription changes to be made quickly and easily.

The lenses consist of a flexible membrane filled with glycerin and connected to a series of mechanical actuators. As the membrane is pushed back and forth, it alters the curvature of the lens and liquid, varying the focal length between the lens and the eye. Infrared sensors in the frame are used to determine the distance between the wearer’s eye and the object on which they are focused, and to instruct the actuators accordingly. The system is calibrated via a smartphone app, which can also be used to update future prescriptions.

Although the prototype device presented at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is somewhat bulky, the developers plan to focus on refining the product to be market-ready in about three years.