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Hi-Tech Bifocals Improved My Eyesight but Made Me Look Like a Dork
- eschneider 2y agoI think I'll just stick with multiple glasses.
- ghaff 2y agoI find progressive glasses and multifocal contacts help vs. "dumb" versions but mostly I still switch glasses.
- apwell23 2y agoi wear multifocal contact lenses. has been a game changer for me.
- OldGuyInTheClub 2y agoThey work just well enough to fail for me. Still need reading glasses for close-in work.
- apwell23 2y agoYea same. But for me reading glasses have gone from necessity to comfort.
- aaronbrethorst 2y agoI’m not sure why they didn’t include a photo of someone actually wearing them, so here’s one for you: https://www.engadget.com/vixion01-glasses-reduce-eyestrain-by-doing-the-focusing-for-you-205106281.html https://www.engadget.com/vixion01-glasses-reduce-eyestrain-b...
- v9v 2y agoThe battery life and IP rating are a bit disappointing. Having to charge your glasses ~twice a day sounds like a big ask.
- PromptCoding 2y ago[dead]
- xorcist 2y agoAs long as the battery is fresh. Li-ion degrades pretty quickly. For most of the product's lifetime it's going to be more than that.
- makeitdouble 2y agoIP rating is IMHO critical. If people start relying on it to live their life, getting it killed by unpredicted rain or an accidental water splash will be quite a shock. Battery life could be worked around if they're really that much of an improvement in day to day use. Even buying two or three pairs to go through a full day could be a worthy tradeoff if they don't need to pair to anything. Cost could be an issue, but 2 or 3 of them would still be cheaper that many hearing aids for instance.
- jeffnappi 2y agoVery Geordi La Forge esque. Would be nice if this is more stylish and normalized by the time I need bifocals
- delichon 2y agoGood news, you tend to care less about stylish by the time you need bifocals. I have leveled up to the point at which I can wear bifocals and suspenders without giving any fucks. Probably because they no longer alter my probability of getting one.
- ok_dad 2y agoAgree fully, as I put on the dorkiest headband in the world to capture sweat from my forehead as I work outside. It's not that we older folds don't care what people think, but more like we now realize that people rarely care or think about others who aren't close to them. Those few dozen people that see me in my dorky headband won't even remember my face in 15 seconds.
- pantulis 2y agoI would not be wearing this outdoors but count me in for household activities!
- mlloyd 2y agoIf they could adjust for LED headlights at night, this would be even more of a no-brainer. I'd still wear them if needed.
- NBJack 2y agoPaging LeVar Burton for endorsement. This looks like a Gen 1 VISOR. Neat tech, I wonder if getting too used to it could actually lead to degredation of your sight.
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- popcalc 2y agoYou can order here: https://pay.peraichi.com/fohjh4665zd/shop/m5yygz2eu4v?landing_page_id=1714807 https://pay.peraichi.com/fohjh4665zd/shop/m5yygz2eu4v?landin... Only 79,200 yen surprisingly. Initial Setup Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gSqFjZfrH8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gSqFjZfrH8
- bryanrasmussen 2y agoI'm guessing that's Japanese Yen? Even so a bit too pricey for me.
- alwa 2y agoAsking genuinely—are there places that use yen other than the Japanese kind? I wasn’t aware of any and a casual search came up empty.
- righthand 2y agoIt’s a misnomer as there is the Chinese Renminbi, known as the yuan. The yen and yuan have similar/same symbol. So people confuse the two as Japanese Yen and Chinese Yen even though that isn’t remotely correct. When you use just “yen” it should be always known as the Japanese currency. There should be no need for clarification. The confusion maybe comes from misunderstanding of history as the yuan (yoo-ahn) and yen both can mean “round”, like a coin.
- bryanrasmussen 2y agothanks I didn't know that, I typed yen into XE.com's input and it suggested 3 currencies, Japanese first, it was a bit dark and didn't have my glasses so I didn't see that Chinese was Chinese Yuan, I had a minor memory that China also used "Yen" as name of their currency, from some time in high school I suppose, and so I took it as being that. One suggestion was also Yemen so probably the input has some Levenshtein distance awareness to it
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- jfengel 2y agoI'd love to give it a try. I suspect it feels very odd to have it refocus just as my eyes are also refocusing, to the best of their very meager ability.
- yumraj 2y agoI’ve been having issues with my bi-focals lately. Looking far and cell phone at fine, but laptop sucks. These can definitely help in that case, but yeah look weird.
- bluGill 2y agoI got my doctor to write me a computer prescription. Half as strong as my regular glasses and single vision perfect for computer work and worthless for everything else.
- yumraj 2y agoThanks. I’ve read about those so was thinking on asking about that in my next visit.
- criddell 2y agoI did that as well and then ordered some super inexpensive glasses online (Zenni) and have been super happy with them. I ended up buying a second pair that I leave at work so I don’t have to carry them around with me.
- OldGuyInTheClub 2y agoI am thrilled that this exists. I've been hoping for this since my near vision started going south twenty years ago. My current options are reading glasses (dollar store ones are as good as prescription) or hope that accommodating intraocular lenses are available when I eventually have to undergo cataract surgery. Bifocals are disorienting, multifocal contacts sort of work but I still need readers. It sucks to be on the fringe of so much medical technology - have to pay for the insurance but get squat in terms of treatment. Hoping that it or some next-gen product comes to the US double-quick.
- maxerickson 2y agoWhat's your concern with accommodating intraocular lenses? Something that works with your particular vision issues? I live in a relatively rural region, and the eye care center that has them as an option is one of the big TV advertisers.
- iwanttocomment 2y agoAll current IOLs are non-accommodating: the multifocal IOLs work by having multiple rings beam two or three different focal lengths into your retina simultaneously. The way a natural accommodating lens works is that your optical musculature physically flexes the lens to focus on the point you're looking at. The current non-accommodating multifocal lenses are stiff and fixed; the implantee handles the transition between focal points entirely in the mind's eye. While accommodating IOLs are being developed, they are currently not on the commercial market. I have a multifocal IOL that I honestly love, and has allowed me to abandon wearing any glasses; I have crisp and natural vision except in certain edge-cases. Other people, however, never adapt, or dislike the artifacts of the multifocal rings (mostly halos around bright lights such as headlights).
- maxerickson 2y agoI guess I don't understand. This describes a single beam... https://www.bauschsurgical.com/cataract/crystalens-and-trulign/ https://www.bauschsurgical.com/cataract/crystalens-and-truli...
- m463 2y agoNot clear, can you get prescription versions?
- 1123581321 2y agoThese would be great as workday wear (when not on Zoom.) I started looking into computer glasses (short focal length) and quickly realized I’d need 2-3 pairs for all my work situations. The daily charge could pay off if it reduces eye strain and perhaps even ends the workday sooner via quicker reading. Would there be any pitfalls using these primarily to focus on screens of varying distances?
- JoshTriplett 2y agoThese look incredible, and a huge improvement over bifocals or similar. Having lenses that automatically adjust to focus at the distance you're looking would be incredible, for people who need one diopter for distance vision and another (or none at all) for close-up vision. I hope it's possible to improve the field of view to match ordinary glasses. I also wonder if it'd be possible to change different parts of the lens to have different focal points, or change fast enough to allow for the equivalent of foveated rendering, such that you could look around at different things in your field of view and have them all appear in focus.
- vidarh 2y agoI'd pay a lot if they can get a full enough field of view. I detest bi/varifocals, but I detest switching glasses more. The entire experience of glasses is a constant annoyance in my life.
- sandworm101 2y agoIve been reading about myopia, mostly some recent work out of japan. Our obsession with 20/20, at distance, seems to be exacerbating the issue. Im not sure that these will help. We perhaps need to admit that not everyone needs to shoot a gun, fly an airplane or even drive a car. The japanese work is showing that making things perfect at 20ft often makes the eye contort itself to see at the sub-foot range where most reading occurs. Acceptable vision at closer ranges would be a better standard than forcing perfect vision at distance, or at every distance via glasses that change focus.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- stevebmark 2y agoHopefully you've already come across myopic defocus lenses and low dose atropine in your reading about myopia. Overfocus in peripheral vision is a known trigger of myopia progression.
- wiseowise 2y ago> We perhaps need to admit that not everyone needs to shoot a gun, fly an airplane or even drive a car. “Not everyone can become a doctor, not everyone needs an education” Always easy to decide for other people, right?
- sandworm101 2y agoBut education doesnt do damage. Glasses to create 20/20 vision at distance, when a person spends so much time at sub-foot distances, damages the eye.
- tengwar2 2y agoMy experience is that that has limited validity. I wear varifocals, but for the past few years have had some single focus lenses set a bit further out than reading lenses. The motivation is to be able to see the top of a large screen, which is difficult with varifocals as you have to cant your head back. These intermediate lenses are very comfortable around the house, and fine for walking around to the local shop. However they are not adequate for driving. I could probably pass the UK test for legality, but I do need sharp vision further off to anticipate signs and hazards. BTW - most reading is at sub-foot distance? I think not!
- shams93 2y agoThis is what happens when you decide designers are no longer necessary.
- iknowstuff 2y agoUhh.. or you could just wear multifocal contact lenses which work via concentric rings instead of dividing your vision into halves. Your brain very quickly learns to focus on objects up close more easily, and you don’t look like a dork. https://coopervision.com/contact-lenses/biofinity-multifocal https://coopervision.com/contact-lenses/biofinity-multifocal I love these things. They’ve been on the market since 2011.
- nocoiner 2y agoI got fitted with these last year after finally losing the ability to focus on small text at reasonable distances. They work shockingly well for me. I don’t recall there being any period of adjustment at all.
- OldGuyInTheClub 2y agoThey are good but a lot depends on the individual. My combination of presbyopia and refractive errors including astigmatism mean I can get close with multifocals but still need reading glasses. My very experienced optometrist had me try four different combinations. He said the best of the bunch was the best the technology can do and that one could not let me avoid glasses.
- pxc 2y agoPeople with low vision sometimes use glasses that are a little similar to this but are actual bifocals. The bottom component is ordinary glasses while the top component is telescopic. The telescopic component's focus can be changed, but it's manual. With special training, such glasses can allow¹ people who are otherwise too visually impaired to qualify for a driver's license to receive a limited driver's license with special training. Glasses like those in TFA might be easier for drivers to adapt to, and their autofocus mechanisms might also be reusable for proper bioptic lenses, if that proves to be better for driving for one reason or another (i.e., some people actually need magnification, not just differentiated focus). I imagine if the manufacturer ever gets approval for such uses, those customers won't care too much what the glasses look like. -- 1: https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/what-to-know-about-driving-with-bioptic-lenses https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/what-to-know-about-driving-...
- jdietrich 2y agoOcutech make an autofocus bioptic, which uses a time-of-flight sensor. https://www.ocutech.com/ocutech-bioptics-products-overview/keplerian/ves-falcon-autofocus-bioptic/ https://www.ocutech.com/ocutech-bioptics-products-overview/k...
- tdeck 2y agoInteresting to see Ocutech pop up on HN! I've used one of their manual ones for years and it made a huge difference for me in being able to view presentations and lectures while also taking notes. However, the experience is not like traditional bifocals, it's like having a small telescope stuck to your glasses (because of course that's what it is). The telescope has a relatively narrow field of view as you'd expect, and is only visible to one eye. Frankly I don't understand how folks can use these while driving or moving around.
- mbreese 2y agoAs far as I know, the main use while driving is reading signs, so the rest of your vision is good enough to drive, but you might need the bioptic to read a street sign for navigating. I never really thought of them for lectures, but that’s not a bad idea. However, in an era of smartphones, having a ready telephoto zoom (digital or optical) in your pocket is also quite handy. (Not that it would help while driving!)
- Ekaros 2y agoHow easy would it be to add AR to this in future? It seems like small enough that you would not need too much extra mass from displays.
- java-man 2y agoI don't really care how they look (although anything made in Japan probably looks far better than anything else), but I wish the author, erm, focused on important things, like - what's the field of vision in these? Are they blocking peripheral vision, i.e. can someone drive with those?
- bugglebeetle 2y agoFrom the article: > Also, ViXiON has made it very clear that this isn’t a medically cleared product and doesn’t advise using the glasses while driving or any other potentially rigorous tasks.
- makeitdouble 2y ago> doesn’t advise using the glasses while driving or any other potentially rigorous tasks "doesn't advise" is an euphemism Gizmodo chose. On Vixion's site [0] they have a "Forbidden" section, with driving as the first bullet point, with a pictogram to make it clear even if you can't read the text. They absolutely don't want you in a crash, and surely not with their glasses blamed for it. [0] https://store.vixion.jp/ https://store.vixion.jp/
- jdietrich 2y agoThe size of the lenses and their mountings makes it obvious that the field-of-view will be severely restricted - probably acceptable for desk work after a period of adaptation, but I wouldn't want to wear them when walking around. I'm unconvinced that these will be better than well-dispensed varifocal glasses or multifocal contacts for the vast majority of users.
- lolinder 2y ago> The ViXion01 is rated for 10 hours of battery life and some water resistance with an IPX3 rating. At 1.78 ounces, they are fairly lightweight, although I’d like to see how they feel after a few hours. I appreciate the honesty in acknowledging that they didn't even spend a few hours with the glasses, but man am I sick of the low effort content on the internet today. We're talking about a pair of $555 glasses and the author of this review straight up admits that they didn't use them for very long at all. This is about more than the weight—they're glasses! Do you get headaches after a few hours? We wouldn't know because she didn't wear them long enough to tell! If you look at what she actually wrote, the only thing that wasn't drawn from the product description is that it wasn't hard to set up and she looked at some signage and was impressed but had a hard time with smaller text. Is this what reviewing a product has to look like in 2024? Does anyone actually give more than 20 minutes to something before writing up a piece on it and moving on to the next thing?
- brk 2y agoI agree, I was looking for the rest of the write up, assuming I had to scroll through more ads or click through to another page or something. That was one of the least informative tech pieces I can recall reading.
- bryanrasmussen 2y agoUnfortunately this is what the companies that pay for content pay for, to the extent that if you do better you would get penalized either by not getting as much money or not getting published at all, and obviously she wants to make money from the effort she put into writing it. Which I'm guessing still took half a day's worth of work what with incidental stuff like sending off emails and answering editors etc. Since Gizmodo probably paid 400 dollars for this that's a pretty good rate, but how many other things did she spend time writing that didn't get bought? So - in the end - this is the quality we end up with, which ironically relates to another recent HN frontpager https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41547773 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41547773 Don't see a way out of it. The best one can hope for is that she writes a second piece - a week with hi-tech bifocals - and manages to sell that one too.
- gpm 2y agoDo these have as short a vertical field of view as it looks like they do?
- jerlam 2y ago$555 sounds very cheap for possibly "the last pair of glasses you'll ever buy". Progressives cost half as much but you'll have to buy a new pair on a regular basis.
- analog31 2y ago>>> These Hi-Tech Bifocals Improved My Eyesight but Made Me Look Like a Huge Dork Okay, but I wonder if there are any negative aspects. ;-) Disclosure: Dork.
- wiseowise 2y agoShame I won’t live long enough to see Deus Ex/Cyberpunk cyber eyes.
- aetherspawn 2y agoSurely focusing for you untrains your eyes how to focus and is bad for you in the long run.
- ClassyJacket 2y agoArticle would have been good with a picture on someone's face. Seems important given the title. I'm the kind of nerd who would wear high tech shit that makes me look like a dork if it was cool enough or the utility was big enough, but even I have my limits - and being able to see expressions and make eye contact is a pretty big deal with humans.
- a1o 2y agoThis article is really lacking for such an interesting product. I am curious to get some insights from actual users from this to see how they feel about it. I guess one more thing to remember to charge can be annoying.
- scotty79 2y agoWhy do they look like they have 15deg fov?
- nicoty 2y agoDo they also automatically correct for for muscle weakness? Some people's (my) prescription involves the use of prism lenses to correct for this and would otherwise get double-vision without them.
- tricked 2y agoWould be awesome if they did im looking to get checked up again but the only company that does those lenses here is backed up by 3 months
- dsign 2y agoThis gadgets seem pretty amazing, and I would gladly dump that amount into a product that works... think about it; my prescription glasses are already in that price range and they come with periodic visits to the optician. BUT, I would be much more pleased to learn about treatments that stop and revert the aging in our optical systems. Glasses feel like such a low-tech crutch for our extremely advanced optical machinery...
- euroderf 2y agoBoating. Switching between charts (or a device) and the horizon. Switching glasses to switch targets makes it tough to track that target on the horizon. And hopefully they float.
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