The Best Idea I Have Heard All Week: Glasses For The Masses

All over the world people need glasses. The problem is that all over the world people don’t have access to eye care…what to do.

A Zulu man wearing adaptive glasses. Photograph: Michael Lewis
A Zulu man wearing adaptive glasses. Photograph: Michael Lewis

Silver has devised a pair of glasses which 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. (via)