Telescopic Contact Lens With Switchable Magnification To Help AMD Patients 68
cylonlover writes "Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness among older adults in the western world. Unfortunately, conventional optical aids provide little help for a retina which has lost the acuity of its central area. Now a team of multinational researchers led by University of California, San Diego Professor Joseph Ford has created a telescopic contact lens that can switch between normal and magnified vision to offer AMD patients a relatively unobtrusive way to enhance their vision."
AMD patients? (Score:5, Funny)
I didnt realize that AMD was a disease - I guess i should of bought a machine with Intel Inside(TM)
AMD patients? (Score:3)
But what about Intel pat oh wait, you beat me to it.
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Safari keeps replacing my three dots with the … character and Slashdot keeps eating UTF-8 encoded text.
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So, you're saying that both Safari and Slashdot need these special new contact lenses?
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it sounds like a joke, but I had one of the original Athlon processors. I couldn't put cover on the case or else the system would over heat. and even then it used four fans to draw air over it.
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This is one of the first Stories in a while with Acronym that actually explains what it is, in the story headline. I really hate it when they post a story and shoot out acronyms left and right especially acronyms for a particular field that is not covered so much on Slashdot.
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What they didn't tell you is that Intel is inside your eye, not your machine. That's why their slogan lacked an object.
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Oh please (Score:5, Funny)
Telescopic contact lens + Linux-powered rifle scope = I can finally become Hawkeye. Minus the abs.
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Sorry to rain on your parade but the laws of physics say otherwise. That bow is about as realistic as the average Hollywood gunfight.
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Hawkeye's power is not in the bow. His power is the ability to shoot or throw anything with precision. Telescopic contact lenses would give me enhanced eyesight and allow me to find targets at greater distance than normal. The Linux rifle scope would allow me to tag any target and hit it. The bow is merely his preferred weapon. [wikipedia.org]
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True, I really meant that it was used in an unrealistic way, similar to how Hollywood guns never run out of ammo until the most dramatic moment and somehow the bullets send people flying but don't exert the same recoil in the shooter.
His arrows are fairly silly as well.
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That actually sounds more like Bullseye [wikipedia.org]. Hawkeye is usually bow-only (but has been shown to use improvised weapons, yes), while Bullseye has been shown to kill a man by spitting his tooth through the target's skull, and is able to use any object as a precise projectile weapon.
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I didn't want to say that I could be Bullseye, as it could land me on the NSA right-wing terrorist watch list. Not that it is likely that I haven't landed myself on that list already.
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sadly you will still lack the brain power necessary to calculate trajectories that fast.
Re:Oh please (Score:4, Informative)
Did you miss the article about the rifle scope [arstechnica.com]?
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Hawkeye's pointed barbs never missed their target, you'll admit!
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He did finally get with Hot Lips, but it took a Chinese artillery attack to start the moment. Sorry guys, it's WAYYYY past spoiler alert time.
Watch out for dirty old men (Score:4, Informative)
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yes I know, we'll all be dirty old men one day.
Hooray for gay marriage, I guess.
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It needs glasses??? (Score:2, Interesting)
If you need glasses to switch between magnification and no magnification, then why not simply make the glasses do the magnification?
This seems to be rather silly in my book.
Now, the implantable zoomming replacement eye lense that costs $25,000 an eye they dismissed as too expensive, no THAT seems worth talking about.
Re:It needs glasses??? (Score:4, Informative)
Because... REASONS!
No really, it causes issues with the brain when the lens does not move with the eye. Like vertigo. Yes I RTFA.
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In your opinion. But otherwise no. If you look at what is actually involved in implanting a telescope in your eye [gizmag.com] you'd see that it is not really a good solution compared to a contact lens (if the latter is equally effective). The contact lens is way less obtrusive, less likely to cause future medical condition, less likely to cause catastrophic injury if someone
Other features? (Score:2)
Well, what about other optical effects, like split screen, slow motion, Quantel?
Distracted by the ad (Score:2)
"The Emergency Bra that doubles as a facemask"
What was TFA about now?
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The Emergency Bra that doubles as a facemask
Uh. Are you sure it wasn't a bra that doubles as an emergency facemask? I mean, I guess there may be times when a woman urgently needs frontal support, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
Yes but... (Score:4, Funny)
... does it make The Noise from "The Six Million Dollar Man" when it zooms in?
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Like this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cCAB8x_FwQ [youtube.com]
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Nvidia doesn't have any patience.
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'Cause we ain't as smart a specialized single cell?
Obl. Red Dwarf quote (Score:1)
Lister: Any problems? ... closer, hmm, to the object. All right, okay. Well, what about other optical effects, like split screen, slow motion?
Kryten: Well, just one or two. In fact I've compiled a little list if you'll indulge me. Now then, uh, my optical system doesn't appear to have a zoom function.
Lister: No, human eyes don't have a zoom.
Kryten: Well then, how do you bring a small object into sharp focus?
Lister: Well, you just move your head closer to the object.
Kryten: I see. Move your head
Lister: No. W
New drivers? (Score:1)
Any reason these have to be corrective only? (Score:4, Interesting)
Is there some fundamental reason why these are only useful to someone with damaged vision? Since they are not implanted and have no moving parts, they shouldn't be much worse than regular contact lenses, which some people wear for purely cosmetic reasons. The biggest problem I can see would be the light loss from the polarizing glasses. Two stops is significant, especially at night, and the ability of the iris to compensate will be hampered by the size of the central pupil in the contact lens.
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Came here to say that. I'd love having lens like that to augment my vision to beyond 20/20
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I think these will have a limited but important role in certain fields. Any occupation where you have to wear eye protection anyhow, and can use the magnifications, may be potentially assisted. Indoors, one can generally throw more light at the problem. Increasing lighting by a factor of four to account for two stops of loss is mostly a cooling problem, though it may be uncomfortable for anyone NOT wearing shaded goggles. With the touch of a button (which may or may not be attached to the eye protection its
Want (Score:2)
AMD Explained (Score:1)
AMD is the abbreviation for Age-related Macular Degeneration, and it is one of the main causes of vision loss in first world countries among people age 65 and older. At this point there is no cure for AMD, and doctors still aren't completely sure what causes it. Perhaps, since we are living longer than generations before us did, our macula, which is responsible for straight-ahead, central, 20/20 detailed vision, is simply degenerating. Maybe before they were able to recognize and name this disea
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Amy K. Brown MS, CLVT, CVRT
Masters of Vision Rehabilitation
Certified Low Vision Therapist
Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist