As a guy closing in on 50, losing my near vision really annoys me. And the current solutions are weak at best, which annoys me even more. These and the other companies working on similar sound great. But someone tell me why I would need a prescription for them? And is that true in the EU? The article makes it sound like getting them approved to be prescribed is a big hurdle. They seem like better reading glasses, which I don’t need a prescription to buy.
I don’t think I want it to be possible for someone’s glasses to die or freeze
People do dangerous things that are made safer by the fact they can see—like driving
Edit: you’ll need a prescription because the amount of focus it needs to do will be different for everyone and there isn’t a sensor to determine your eyesight
I’d just keep a spare pair of normal glasses in the car. Anyone that has gotten to the point of needed glasses for both distance and reading likely has old pairs of glasses that can sit in a glove box. Even a slightly outdated prescription works in a pinch.
Bifocals and or swapping between distance and readers is a fucking pain. Something that solves that automatically, without a medical procedure, would be fucking amazing.
I think I’m more concerned about the unfortunate scenarios where:
Glasses fuck up meaning driver can only see near -> something that needs quick reactions happens to avoid someone dying -> driver is fumbling with glasses or trying to find a spare pair -> somebody dies
As a driver with short sight and glasses, if my glasses fall off I’m not suddenly blind - I just can’t read license places or signs. Traffic lights, other cars etc are still pretty obvious.
I also am short sighted, though possibly a bit worse than you given your description. If my glasses suddenly fell off there are plenty of hazards I would potentially miss. Idiot kid about to run into the road, etc.
Good point. Maybe these are a “home or office use only” device.
I would looove to have something like this for work or home.