So is this a scam, a joke or a technological miracle?

[Skeptic Ginger]

Coincides with the strange markings outside of Penn Jillette's house.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

700$ a pair? That's less than my high-focus anti-astigmatism glasses.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

So practically these are adjustable field glasses in eye-glasses size and shape. A great idea, people seldom carry field glasses with them, but situations arise when you would wish to see a distant object more clearly.

I doubt that the product is advanced enough to correct astigmatism, so they will not give a sharp view to some 33% of people.

Most astigmatism cases are so mild that you don't notice it - it can even be difficult to measure. I don't think 33% even have necessary-to-correct astigmatism. I've got something like 0.25, which IIRC is more than most people with astigmatism have, and I don't notice the fact that my contacts don't have correction and my glasses do.

Of course, that might be because my sight is pretty terrible even with correction...

 

[Beanbag]

Technology's been around for years. I remember reading about a pair of "zoom" lenses where you could adjust the focal length by moving a slider on the temple. Two problems with that version: the temples didn't fold down, and if you tried cleaning the lenses with the glasses "zoomed" into high-power, they shattered from the internal stress.

Hopefully these drawbacks have been eliminated in the new design.

Beanbag

 

[Andrew Wiggin]

I think this is a pretty good idea. One difference I notice is that the expensive version has a slider that varies both lenses together, but the low-cost version uses fluid injected into each lens with a syringe which is later removed, and just a way of avoiding an eye exam and lens grinding. The cheap version would presumably cost more if it needed to be constantly variable, and if the lenses needed to be synchronized to each other.

I think there are some autofocus webcams that work like this too, but using an electrostatic field to control a layer of transparent dielectric liquid.

 

[rjh01]

I would buy one of those even if they cost more than double the normal cost of glasses. Then instead of having reading, computer and distance glasses, I could have one pair I could see at any distance.

 

[Warmer1]

Coincides with the strange markings outside of Penn Jillette's house.

"strange" to you perhaps, but that's just the Reptilian marking for a safe house.

 

[Beerina]

It's OK deciding you want to use it as a low cost option for the 3rd world but yu have to get costs down far enough to make it cheap enough. Maybe the manufacturing costs are still high enough to make it a luxury gadget.

Or maybe they're just charging what the market will bear in the west to people who want the novelty.

Unless it's computer-controlled to autofocus like a modern electronic camera, forget it!

 

[Andy_Ross]

why?

 

[3point14]

If you combine these with the correct pair of contact lenses, can you end up with a secret squirrel pair of binoculars?