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Kyoto company developing autofocus glasses for sufferers of presbyopia and other conditions

Master Blaster Oct 1, 2024
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Let your glasses focus your eyes so you can focus on the important things in life.

I’ve been a sufferer of nearsightedness for most of my life and am now getting to that age where whenever I have to read something on a smartphone I pull that old man move of holding it not too close and not too far and then fine-tune the distance by shifting my head back a bit so I can see it properly, grimacing the whole time.

▼ Yeah! That’s exactly it!

Image: Pakutaso

I’m far from alone in this problem though, as everyone is said to develop some degree of presbyopia – farsightedness due to old age – as they get up in years. And studies are showing that along with our increasingly smartphone-integrated lives, cases of poor eyesight are steadily rising around the world.

Luckily, technology is not only the cause but the solution to all of life’s problems, and to that end we have Elcyo, a startup out of Osaka University that is now based in Kyoto. Their goal is to create a pair of glasses that can automatically focus based on whatever you’re looking at.

Current eyewear solutions include bifocals but those result in a narrower range of view that can put elderly wearers in danger of bumping into things in their blind spots and falling. Another solution is to have several pairs of glasses, but that’s just a pain.

The autofocus glasses, however, will scan the wearer’s eyes to determine what is being looked at and will then adjust its lenses to correct the wearer’s focus on it. The lenses use liquid crystal which can be adjusted electrically and Elcyo’s particular design is thin and light enough to be worn comfortably like regular glasses.

▼ The diagram shows the surprising number of layers in those rather thin lenses.

Image: PR Times

Another cool potential benefit of these kinds of glasses is that they can adapt to the person’s own eyesight over time as well. A rather common problem, which I admit I’m guilty of myself, is that people continue wearing outdated prescription glasses that can end up contributing to the worsening of their eyesight. These glasses, on the other hand, will always know when and where you have trouble seeing and take care of it.

It’s an ambitious project though, and still in the relatively early stages. In the meantime, Elcyo will be holding a neat exhibition at the Osaka Kansai Expo next year. At the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion, they’ll have a VR system set up that will simulate various eye conditions to help understand what sufferers go through and learn a little about our own vision.

It’s sure to be a real eye-opener for some people, because it’s not uncommon for someone to go through a part of their life without even realizing they have eyesight problems. I myself didn’t notice I was nearsighted until I flunked the eye exam for my driver’s license when I was 16. I just assumed that was how well everyone saw things up until that point.

One way to find out for yourself is to pay Elcyo a visit at the Expo. I’d tell you the exact date the Expo starts but it’s written so small on this pamphlet… I swear, they write these things smaller and smaller each year.

Source: Elcyo, PR Times
Featured image: PR Times
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