Together with Microsoft, a team of MIT researchers have created a display that would eliminate the need for glasses. The display comes equipped with tech that, when being used by somebody who needs corrective lenses, will “self-correct” itself and produce a sharp, clear image, all on its own.
The researchers’ paper, which will be presented at this year’s “Siggraph” conference (otherwise known as the International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques) explains how the display’s technology eliminates the need for glasses when staring at the screen.
The display’s new technology will use algorithms combined with a light filter in the front of the display, which will alter the image on the screen based on the user’s glasses prescription. Their algorithms alter the light of every individual pixel, so after the light goes through the plastic filter, it creates a sharper image. The idea is that the screen will anticipate how your eyes would naturally distort the image and correct it before your glasses have a chance to.
To achieve this, the researchers experimented by taking an image—such as a rainbow hot air balloon and Van Gogh’s self-portrait—and distorted said images through algorithms that mimicked particular eye conditions. They then displayed the images on a specialized iPod Touch, which came equipped with a plastic screen atop an acrylic slab, which they had pierced with thousands of evenly-spaced holes.
According to Brian A. Barsky, co-author of the paper and a computer science professor at Berkeley, the technology basically “undoes” what your eyes are about to do. Their new approach produces a sharper image with higher contrast than previous incarnations of the technology, making it more likely to be of use to those with serious vision problems. The technology could even help those with physical visual defects, those that cannot be corrected with glasses or contacts.
Of course, there are still challenges: while the display will adjust automatically for one person’s visual needs, it’s incapable of simultaneously re-creating a sharp image for several people with different vision requirements. The team also needs to start building a prototype of the display that people will actually be able to use in the real world, which could take years.
Source Mashable
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