Engineers at the University of Utah have developed eyeglasses with tunable lenses that automatically adjust their focus depending on what’s in front of them. The lenses consist of flexible membranes containing liquid glycerin. A battery powered mechanism moves the membranes in relation to each other, changing the overall shape of the lens and therefore its focal point.
To make the glasses truly responsive, the engineers integrated an infrared distance sensor. It constantly measures how far the closest objects are to the glasses and the lenses automatically adjust based on those measurements.
While the glasses are still pretty bulky, they can certainly be reduced in size, perhaps eventually competing against bifocals.
Study in Optics Express: Tunable-focus lens for adaptive eyeglasses…
Via: University of Utah…