'Smart Glasses' Discovered, Could Eliminate The Need For Bifocals, Reading Glasses

Engineers developed "smart glasses" that have liquid-based lenses, in which they could automatically adjust the focus on what the wearer is seeing whether it is far away or near. The new creation could end the use of bifocals or reading glasses.

SPECS; Smart glasses automatically focus on what the wearer looks at..#Tech #SmartGlasses #Newshttps://t.co/miU5MeSBOL

— RICHARD GRIMES (@Grimesygrimes) January 26, 2017

The discovery was published in a special edition of the journal Optics Express this week. It was led by Carlos Mastrangelo, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Utah, and Nazul Hasan, a doctoral student. It was co-authored by Hanseup Kim, an electrical and computer engineering associate professor, and graduate researcher Aishwaryadev Banerjee, according to Phys.org.

Professor Mastrangelo said that most people who get reading glasses have to put them on and take them off all the time. He further said that one does not have to that anymore. He added that a person just have to put on the "smart glasses" and it is always clear.

So, how does the "smart glasses" work? The smart glasses have a glycerin, which is a colorless liquid that is enclosed within a rubber-like material. This moves the lenses back and forth and changes the focal point. The smart glasses also have special eyeglass frames for the lenses, which gauge the distance between the wearer and the object and will readjust its focus based on the distance. The shift will just take 14 milliseconds, according to Deseret News Utah.

In application, for example, if you are reading a book or making a document on your computer, then you look across the street outside your house, the smart glasses will adjust automatically. On the other hand, the smart glasses need to charge for 24 hours. For the wearers who will use their smart glasses for the first time, they must input their eyeglasses prescription into an accompanying smartphone app. This brings into line the lenses automatically via a Bluetooth connection.

The smart glasses were on display at the Consumer Electronic Show last month. The scientists said that it will take about three years or more to release the commercial version of the said "smart glasses."