British atomic physicist Joshua Silver, shortlisted for a 2011 European inventor award, is reportedly liaising with the World Bank on a revolutionary project to distribute spectacles to 200 million children in developing countries. According to The Guardian , users would be able to adjust the glasses to their own personal prescription without help from an optician.
“All users have to do is look at a reading chart and adjust the glasses until they can see letters clearly. Glasses like these are perfect for use in the third world. We can send them to schools where teachers can direct pupils to set their spectacles to suit each one’s vision. It is as simple as that,” the paper quoted Professor Silver, as saying.
After estimating that over a billion adults in developing nations have poor eyesight, the scientist started working with the World Bank and the Dow Corning Corporation, which makes the silicone materials used in his revolutionary glasses, to supply 200 million pairs of self-adjusting spectacles to schoolchildren in Africa and Asia.
He expects a billion pairs of the glasses would eventually be made. Professor Silver’s work was highlighted by the European Patent Office and the European Union at a joint ceremony in Budapest with an intention to showcase what kind of work its scientists should undertake. The EU’s internal market and services commissioner, Michel Barnier, said: “One of the EU’s key duties is establishing the right framework to ensure the long-term innovative capacity of inventive enterprises. The EU patent will be a clear step in that direction.”
