Physician Dr. Stephen Curtin claims to have come up with the perfect eyeglasses for anyone with vision focusing issues (which, after a certain point, is nearly all of us). Unlike the bifocals or trifocals that optometrists typically recommend, Curtin’s unique glasses, called TruFocals, provide a mechanically adjustable lens.
Did you know the bifocal was invented by Benjamin Franklin? Yes, he managed to squeeze that in along with other brilliant creations like the odometer, the catheter, and the lightning rod—not to mention a little thing like helping to come up with the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. (Forget about all these modern-day supposed productivity gurus—just have a look through his autobiography to learn how to get things done.)
As with most of his other inventions, the bifocal was a brilliant idea for Franklin’s time. But that time was 1784. Couldn’t we improve on his design at all in the last 225 years?
Apparently not—until now. Physician Dr. Stephen Curtin claims to have come up with the perfect eyeglasses for anyone with vision focusing issues (which, after a certain point, is nearly all of us). Unlike the bifocals or trifocals that optometrists typically recommend, Curtin’s unique glasses, called TruFocals, provide a mechanically adjustable lens. Instead of being forced to focus through the sharply divided lens of a pair of bifocals, wearers can simply move a small slider on the glasses’ bridge to adjust the focus to fit what they are looking at.The company hopes to eventually develop a system that will allow the glasses to adjust their focus automatically.
At $895, the TruFocals don’t come cheap—but even if a pair of the high-tech glasses cost you nine Benjamins, we’ve got a feeling the father of invention would be proud to see an update of his classic idea in action.