Many people do not like to wear prescription glasses. They say that prescription glasses induce headaches and are cumbersome to wear. There are also complaints that they cannot be worn in all situations. Meanwhile, a lot of people are spending extended hours in front of their mobile devices and computers. So there is some concern about their eyesight being affected also.
Stephen Curtis, the chairman at Superfocus, a technology driven eyeglass company said that the eyeglass market is very slow when it comes to adopting changes. Others are saying that there has not been any major innovation in the eyeglass industry since Benjamin Franklin invented the bifocals.
But there are exciting times. Many companies are already working on making prescription glasses more comfortable. As a result, innovations such as automatic focus adjustment, glasses to filter out harmful rays from mobile devices & computers and iPhone apps that can improve vision have been developed.
Melanin infused glasses
One area where cutting edge research is being conducted is the reduction of eyestrain in people who spend a lot of time at their computers and mobile phones. Many optometrists believe that the light emitted by such devices have the potential to damage the viewer’s eyesight, even though it has not been proven conclusively.
One innovative company has gone a step further and infused eyeglasses with melanin, the same natural pigment found in the skin and in the iris. The company claims the glasses are able to filter out UV radiation and blue light (which has high energy). These glasses come with a yellowish tint and they are available in all prescriptions. Other companies have developed lenses with coatings that filter blue-light.
iPhone app to improve vision
Another company has developed an iPhone app that supposedly enhances near vision. The company claims that vision is affected by two factors- The image quality captured by the eye and capability of the brain to process the image. The company also says that users who spend 15 minutes a day, three days every week, for a period of three months training on their app can teach their brain to interpret blurred images better.
Some of these innovations have reached the market but they are not widely available yet. So if they are not available at your neighborhood eyeglass store, now you know why. Also, in the absence of proper data, it would be wise to wait and watch, till a time more conclusive evidence is available on these technologies.
