As my vision deteriorates, when in my workshop I’m forced to cycle between three modes: No eyeglasses, for moving around, cleaning up and gathering tools; reading glasses, for being able to focus on work at arm’s length; and flip-down magnifying lenses over the reading glasses, for fine marking work. It’s suboptimal.
A Japanese company called Vixion has the solution. Their Vixion 01 eyewear, designed by Nendo, is a pair of auto-focusing eyeglasses.
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Built-in sensors track your eyes and measure the distance to what you’re looking at, and instantly, automatically change the lens shape to provide the proper focus. This video released by the company simulates the experience of going from reading-distance to looking-out-the-window:
The glasses weigh 50g (1.8 oz), and the USB-C-rechargeable battery is good for up to 10 hours, the company reports. To turn them on, you simply open the stems, specifically the right one. Folding the glasses shut turns them off.
By the bye the inventor, engineer Toshiharu Uchiumi, sounds like a great client for a design firm to have. From an interview with Uchiumi on Vixion’s website:
Q: The design was handled by the world-renowned design office Nendo. Have you ever made any requests regarding the design?
Uchiumi: I generally try to keep my mouth shut when it comes to design. However, if there is something that cannot be done due to the structure, we will exchange opinions…. I think the basics of a technology developer is to trust the designer’s sensibilities, understand the designer’s intentions, and then consider whether it can actually be created and whether it will not break, including cost. People around me often said that the prototype looked like a frog (lol), but I think the finished product has a futuristic and cool design.
The Vixion 01 is up for pre-order and runs ¥99,000 (USD $669). However, they will only ship to Japan.
The company has released this subtitled video demonstrating the one-time set-up procedure, if you’re curious:
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Source: core77