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People who wear eyeglasses know how frustrating and time-consuming its maintenance is especially when the time comes to change the lenses due to the changing prescription. In the latest on wearable technology, a team of engineers is developing smart glasses that automatically focuses on giving the, wearers the best view.

The smart glasses can automatically focus on what the wearer is seeing no matter how far and how near and gives the wearer the best view. Equipped with liquid-based lenses, the smart glasses mimic the lens inside the human eye. The lens inside the human eye controls the focal depth depending on what the person is seeing.

However, over time and due to outside factors, this lens deteriorates and thus people needing to use eyeglasses to see clearer. The condition of deterioration of the lens can either be nearsightedness or farsightedness.

According to the University of Utah Electrical and Computer Engineering professor, Carlos Mastrangelo, just like the lens of the human eyes, the focal length of the smart glasses depends on how the shape of the lens change and change the shape of the membrane to change optical power.

The lenses of the smart glasses are made of glycerin enclosed by a flexible rubber-like membrane in the rear and front. A series of mechanical actuators are connected to each rear membrane that changes the shape of the lens thus changing the focal length.

The actuators are powered by the specialized smart glasses' frame that hides the electronics and a rechargeable battery. In order to measure the distance of an object from the glasses, a distance meter is placed on the bridge of the glasses' frame. Infrared pulses are used to measure the distance. The distance meter tells how far the object the glasses is seeing and this tells the actuators how to change the lens' focal length.

The research and development of the smart glasses are published on the special edition of the journal Optics Express. In order to use the smart glasses, all the wearer has to do is input his or her >prescription< into the accompanying app which then automatically calibrates the lenses of the smart glasses via Bluetooth. The smart glasses, particularly its frames, can last for 24 hours before charging.

Currently, a bulky prototype of the smart glasses is available. According to the engineers, consumers can expect a smaller, lighter, and improved version of the smart glasses three years from now. A start-up company, Sharpeyes LLC, was also created to commercialize the glasses.