An electro-active lens is presented which utilizes a surface relief structures and an electro-active material, with a change in refractive index facilitating the change in optical properties. A molded structure and a liquid crystal are used to form a diffractive lens. In addition to the classical approach of utilizing diffractive optics and multiple Fresnel zones to form a lens, an additional structure is placed between Fresnel zones in order to improve the diffraction efficiency across the visible spectrum and reduce chromatic aberration.

An eye-mountable device is provided that includes an eyelid occlusion sensor. The eyelid occlusion sensor is used to detect winks, squints, downwards glances or looks, blinks, or other eye-based gestures generated by the user. Based on the detected gestures, an optical power of an adjustable lens of the device may be changed or some other operations could be performed by the eye-mountable device. Such operations could include toggling the optical power of the lens between first and second power levels due to the user squinting, looking downward, or performing some other gesture. Additionally or alternatively, such operations could include setting the optical power of the lens to a first optical power unless the user is looking downward, in which case the optical power of the lens could be set to a second optical power.

Methods of profiling the nucleic acid composition of single cells and tools for same. The methods can include isolating a single cell in a liquid droplet, lysing the single cell in the liquid droplet to release template nucleic acid from the cell, amplifying the template nucleic acid in the liquid droplet to generate amplified nucleic acid, and detecting the amplified nucleic acid in the liquid droplet. The methods can be useful for profiling expression patterns and/or detecting genetic characteristics such as single nucleotide polymorphisms. The tools include nucleic acid logic gates, including polymerase-dependent logic gates. The logic gates can perform logical operations such as YES, NOT, AND, OR, AND-NOT, NOT-AND, NOT-OR, EXCLUSIVE-OR, EXCLUSIVE-NOR, and IMPLY. The tools also include microfluidic systems for performing the methods.

A form birefringent optical element includes a structured layer and a dielectric environment disposed over the structured layer. At least one of the structured layer and the dielectric environment includes a nanovoided polymer, the nanovoided polymer having a first refractive index in an unactuated state and a second refractive index different than the first refractive index in an actuated state. Actuation of the nanovoided polymer can be used to reversibly control the form birefringence of the optical element. Various other apparatuses, systems, materials, and methods are also disclosed.

Eyewear includes a frame configured to support an optical element and a temple pivotably connected to one side of the frame by a hinge. The temple is movable with respect to the frame between folded and unfolded configurations. A first permanent magnet is either disposed on or at least partially embedded within the frame at a location adjacent the hinge. A second permanent magnet (or ferromagnetic member) is either disposed on or at least partially embedded within the temple at a location adjacent the hinge. The permanent magnets are attracted to each other such that magnetic attraction retains the temple in the unfolded configuration when the temple is moved into the unfolded configuration.

A focus adjusting tool used to perform an initial setting for a pair of autofocus eyeglasses includes an adjusting lens that refracts reflected light from a visual object, a housing including an inner space that allows a parallel movement of the adjusting lens, an adjusting unit that adjusts a position of the adjusting lens inside the housing, and a first end and a second end in a moving direction of the adjusting lens. The first end is provided with a hole for visually observing a visual object through a power variable lens of the pair of autofocus eyeglasses. The adjusting lens adjusts, in response to the position thereof inside the housing, an incident angle of the reflected light from the visual object into the power variable lens, the visual object being located on the side of the second end

A process, phoropter, and an optometry system, the process being for correction of the shift of the optical power of an active lens in a phoropter due to a temperature change over time, the active lens including a container filled with a liquid and having a deformable curvature membrane under the action of an actuator controlled by an optical power control command, the shift being that the active lens provides an actual optical power that is different from the expected optical power corresponding to the optical power control command. A temperature sensor is arranged in and/or on the phoropter to measure the temperature in the phoropter.

Adaptive spectacles (20) include a spectacle frame (25) and first and second electrically-tunable lenses (22, 24), mounted in the spectacle frame. In one embodiment, control circuitry (26) is configured to receive an input indicative of a distance from an eye of a person wearing the spectacles to an object (34) viewed by the person, and to tune the first and second lenses in response to the input.

A wearable training apparatus has a vision-control assembly and a head-mounting assembly coupled to the vision-control assembly. The vision-control assembly has a see-through area corresponding to a central portion of the human field of vision (FOV), and a vision-blocking area for blocking the human peripheral FOV except the central portion thereof. The wearable training apparatus may be in the form of a pair of eyeglasses with lenses provided with reduced FOV or alternatively, may be in the form of a goggle with reduced FOV. A training system may comprise one or more wearable training apparatus, one or more imaging devices for recording images and/or video streams of the performance of users wearing the training apparatuses, and one or more computing devices for playing back and analyzing the recorded images and/or video streams.

A typical liquid crystal lens includes liquid crystal sandwiched between transparent substrates, which are patterned with ring electrodes. Applying a voltage across the electrodes causes the liquid crystal molecules to rotate, changing their apparent refractive index and the lens's focal length. The ring electrodes are separated by gaps and get narrower toward the lens's periphery. If the ring electrodes are too narrower, their cannot switch the liquid crystal well. To address this problem, an inventive liquid crystal lens includes a substrate with a stepped surface that defines concentric liquid crystal regions with thicknesses that increase with lens radius. Each region is switched by a different set of ring electrodes, which may be on, under, or opposite the stepped surface. Within each region, the ring electrodes get narrower farther from the lens's center. But the ring electrodes' widths also increase with liquid crystal thickness, offsetting the decrease in width that degrades lens performance.