This is interresstingg.
The world of optometry is changing before our eyes, as is everything else it seems. What with LED tattoos and paper dresses. This, however seems kinda useful. The British inventor Josh Silver of water-lensed glasses is a former professor of physics at Oxford University. He created these glasses with the thought in mind to
”rely on the principle that the fatter a lens the more powerful it becomes. Inside the device’s tough plastic lenses are two clear circular sacs filled with fluid, each of which is connected to a small syringe attached to either arm of the spectacles. The wearer adjusts a dial on the syringe to add or reduce amount of fluid in the membrane, thus changing the power of the lens. When the wearer is happy with the strength of each lens the membrane is sealed by twisting a small screw, and the syringes removed. The principle is so simple, the team has discovered, that with very little guidance people are perfectly capable of creating glasses to their own prescription.”
Technically this means that we wouldn’t need optometrists to provide glasses anymore but it depends. Do you trust that you will accurately be able to adjust the glasses to your needed vision needs? or Will some attempt to strain their eyes too hard with this new invention? And who will provide the glasses couture?
Not to worry as these spectacles can be mass-produced by the millions and we in the developed nations usually get the fashionability we want in our products. But, Silver’s goal is to provide and distribute these glasses for those in the developing nations. The radio of optometrist to those who need glasses is 1 to 1 million! The deterioration in vision is cited as the reason for the lack of literacy and ability to work.
”In Ghana, Silver met a man called Henry Adjei-Mensah, whose sight had deteriorated with age, as all human sight does, and who had been forced to retire as a tailor because he could no longer see to thread the needle of his sewing machine. “So he retires. He was about 35. He could have worked for at least another 20 years. We put these specs on him, and he smiled, and threaded his needle, and sped up with this sewing machine. He can work now. He can see.”
So far 30,000 of Silver’s specs have been distributed with more to come. He envisions producing 100 million pairs as his next goal.
The ability to provide vision to those who cannot afford it or who cannot access it touches us. Very often, we don’t realize how lucky we are living in developed countries.
However,
Would you invest in a pair of water-lensed glasses?
rêve.critique.couture 
