Smart Glasses Prototype Auto-Focuses on What You See

Eyeglasses are looking to get a revolution in the near future with glasses that can take care of near and shortsightedness without bifocal lenses or changing glasses. Put these glasses on, and your vision will always be clear.

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University of Utah electrical and computer engineering department have developed a compact tunable-focus liquid lens that can he used in adaptive eyeglass applications.

The lens is 8.4 mm thick and weighs 14.4g in the prototype. The aperture diameter of the lens is 32mm, with an optical power range of 5.6 diopter using less than 20mW of power. The power is adjusted by vertically displacing the fluid which deflects the top membrane resulting in a change in curvature.

"The focal length of the glasses depends on the shape of the lens, so to change the optical power we actually have to change the membrane shape," said Carlos Mastrangelo the lead author.

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The lenses are made of glycerin trapped in with rubber-like membranes. Three low-profile curved piezoelectric bimorph actuators are connected to the rear membrane and push it back and forth to adjust the focal length like a transparent piston.

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The quality of the lens image is demonstrated by tuning the lens focal length using a driver circuit. The image below shows two photos taken through the new smart lens at different power levels. The text was placed 35cm away from the lens.

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To try them out, someone just needs to input their prescription into a smart phone app that will then calibrate the lenses automatically through a Bluetooth connection. You will need to adjust the lens data if you're vision changes, either an improvement or more degradation. In theory, you would never have to buy another pair of eyeglasses again.

Obviously, the prototype is bulky and not very attractive for a consumer market. Mastrangelo and his team are developing a lighter and more attractive pair of 'smart glasses' that could be available in the marketplace within three years. A startup company called Sharpeyes LLC has already been created to commercialize this new technology.

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References:

• Engineers develop 'smart glasses' that automatically focus on what wearer sees
• Tunable-focus lens for adaptive eyeglasses

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@krnel
2017-01-26, 6:01pm