The culprit (apart from age, of course) is called presbyopia – what was traditionally known as long-sightedness. When we look at nearby objects, the crystalline lens in our eyes changes shape in order to focus light at the back of the eye – a process known as accommodation. As our eyes age, the internal lens becomes stiffer and can no longer accommodate, meaning nearby objects are blurred.
The solution is relatively simple: reading glasses to correct the angle. The problem is that some tasks may require different prescriptions to others, meaning it may be necessary to own a range of different reading glasses depending on what one is doing.
The challenge
What is needed then, is a solution that can cope with all possible needs without the need for a new pair of glasses. Perhaps it would be possible to adapt the system optometrists use and simply have different lenses capable of sliding into your frames. Whatever the solution, it must be simple, lightweight and convenient.
The idea we have in mind will be revealed in the July issue of Eureka! Until then see what you can come up with. Submit ideas by leaving a comment below or by emailing the editor: paul.fanning@markallengroup.com
The solution
The solution to June’s Coffee Time Challenge of how to provide a range of reading glasses lenses without the need for multiple pairs of glasses comes in the form of Eyejusters, adaptable glasses on which a tiny dial on the arms of each pair of the Eyejusters glasses enables the wearer to bring whatever they want to look at into sharp focus.
A British company, Eyejusters is the brainchild of Owen Reading and David Crosby.
The concept is simple: the lenses in glasses work to focus images by changing the direction of light beams entering them. Each ‘lens’ in the Eyejuster spectacles is made up of two, and the pair slide past one another as the dial is turned to give a different shape.
