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British physics professor perfects "tunable eyeglasses" -- no eye doctor required
engadget ^

Posted on 12/23/2008 6:13:28 PM PST by newbie2008

We've seen small scale liquid lenses progress from concepts to commerical applications, and now Joshua Silver, a retired physics professor at Oxford University, has perfected what he calls "adaptive glasses," applying similar tech in a singular and ingenious way. Aimed at helping developing nations where glasses are expensive and doctors are often in short supply, Silver's spectacles are made of tough plastic with with silicone liquid in the lenses. When purchased, each lense will have a syringe attached to it, and the wearer will be able to adjust the amount of liquid in the lenses -- which essentially changes the prescription -- without the need for an optician. About 10,000 pairs have been distributed in Ghana on a trial basis, with plans to distribute one million pairs in India in the next year -- the ultimate goal is one billion by 2020. And somewhere else in the world, a room full of opticians cry into their beer.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: correction; eyewear; vision

1 posted on 12/23/2008 6:13:29 PM PST by newbie2008
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To: newbie2008
Assuming they don't look like BCD issue glasses... I'll take a pair.

/johnny

2 posted on 12/23/2008 6:15:41 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (God Bless us all, each, and every one.)
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To: JRandomFreeper

BCD issue glasses?
Do you mean the old military BCGs?


3 posted on 12/23/2008 6:16:51 PM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
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To: OneWingedShark
Birth Control Device, Birth Control Glasses. Black, issue, and ugly no matter what you call them. Same thing. ;)

/johnny

4 posted on 12/23/2008 6:19:49 PM PST by JRandomFreeper (God Bless us all, each, and every one.)
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To: newbie2008

They look like Mr Magoo glasses....


5 posted on 12/23/2008 6:29:25 PM PST by tips up
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To: newbie2008
When purchased, each lense will have a syringe attached to it, and the wearer will be able to adjust the amount of liquid in the lenses

I don't know about this... it sounds a little complicated. I wouldn't trust most adults in 1st world countries with my pencil...

6 posted on 12/23/2008 6:31:25 PM PST by John123 (The US may be going down the drain, but everyone else will drown first...)
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To: newbie2008

If there was a reservoir so you could dial them in and out, these would be great. I’m not a big fan of glasses that could only be dialed in once at the beginning.

It’s not as easy as some might think to get the precise setting right.

If you’ve ever spent time dialing in binoculars, you’ll note that your eyes sometimes seem comfortable at first, but then the binoculars need to be readjusted.

Imagine dialing in those glasses incorrectly, then having to use them for the next five years.

Then there’s distance as well as reading. If the glasses could be dialed in and out, then you could adjust for the type of vision you needed on the spot. Otherwise you’d have blind spots.

“Hey, I’m great for reading, but I can’t tell if that’s a gazelle or a bushmaster at ten paces.”


7 posted on 12/23/2008 6:33:21 PM PST by DoughtyOne (I see that Kenya's favorite son has a new weekly Saturday morning radio show.)
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To: JRandomFreeper

Birth Control Glasses, haven’t heard that in years....LOL!


8 posted on 12/23/2008 6:33:51 PM PST by ScreamingFist (Annihilation - The result of underestimating your enemies. NRA)
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To: ScreamingFist

“Foster Grunts”


9 posted on 12/23/2008 6:40:27 PM PST by conservativeharleyguy (Democrats: Over 60 million fooled daily!)
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To: newbie2008
"Aimed at helping developing nations where glasses are expensive and doctors are often in short supply,"

What about declining nations, where glasses are expensive, and doctors are often in short supply? ...not to mention competent writers and commas in short supply.


10 posted on 12/23/2008 6:44:11 PM PST by familyop (cbt. engr. (cbt), NG, '89-'96, Duncan Hunter or no-vote, http://falconparty.com/)
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To: ScreamingFist

Hey, they turned me on, years ago!

Seriously, I fell in love with my husband, back when he was wearing those glasses.

To me, he looked so sexy, so handsome, so thoughtful. And, he was all of those. Still is after 42 years, but I do miss those glasses, for he now wears modern ones.


11 posted on 12/23/2008 6:50:05 PM PST by jacquej
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To: newbie2008

Do they come with little goldfish?


12 posted on 12/23/2008 7:23:54 PM PST by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: driftdiver

13 posted on 12/23/2008 7:52:44 PM PST by idkfa
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To: JRandomFreeper; OneWingedShark
"Birth Control Device, Birth Control Glasses. Black, issue, and ugly no matter what you call them. Same thing. ;)"

LOL!! The BCGs they issued us in the '60'S had pink frames!

Every heater in our barracks had a couple of "butttcans" on top -- filled with concentrated black/navy blue dye -- and all the troops' glasses (when they were not in use). We would have been overjoyed to have been issued black frames!

14 posted on 12/23/2008 8:41:29 PM PST by TXnMA (Chief Justice: "To administer this oath would violate my oath to uphold the Constitution.")
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To: newbie2008
The professor's short video presentation, why yes, they are BCGs: http://www.techawards.org/2005Videos/Joshua_Silver.mov

 

Hear a presentation sponsored by The Conversations Network of Prof Joshua Silver as he describes how he developed his liquid-filled corrective lenses and his plans for the future. Click the arrow below.

http://shadmia.com/2008/12/23/eyeglasses-for-the-masses/
15 posted on 12/23/2008 8:42:41 PM PST by JerseyHighlander
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To: John123
I don't know about this... it sounds a little complicated. I wouldn't trust most adults in 1st world countries with my pencil...

No kidding. Won't be five minutes before some idiot sticks himself in the eye with the needle.

16 posted on 12/23/2008 10:14:02 PM PST by FoxInSocks (B. Hussein Obama: The Paucity of Hope)
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To: newbie2008

17 posted on 12/23/2008 10:15:55 PM PST by smokingfrog (I'll go green when they plant me in the ground.)
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