Lens technology certainly has
never stood still and we have another great example here.
Having sunglasses been continually
modified by the ambient light is plausibly possible with this system. That it is able to perform over a wide range
is also implied.
For our next trick it would be
useful to contact the radiation from a broader spectrum allowing our eyes to
see into a wider spectral range. This is
now becoming a possibility.
Recall ET with his huge artificial
eyes? Are we far awy?
New technology allows lenses to change color rapidly
by Staff Writers
"The lifetime of sunglasses is usually very short," says
Sotzing, who points out that people often misplace them. So by making the
manufacturing less expensive, he says, commercial retailers will be able to
produce more of them.
University of Connecticut scientist has perfected a method for creating
quick-changing, variable colors in films and displays, such as sunglasses, that
could lead to the next hot fashion accessory.
The new technology also has captured the interest of the U.S.
The process for creating the lenses, for which a patent is pending,
also is less expensive and less wasteful to manufacturers than previous
methods. The findings were published July 7 in the Journal of Materials
Chemistry.
"This is the next big thing for transition lenses," says Greg
Sotzing, a professor of chemistry in UConn's College of Liberal Arts
The typical material behind a transition lens is what's called a
photochromic film, or a sheet of polymers that change color when light hits
them. Sotzing's new technology does things slightly differently - his
electrochromic lenses are controlled by an electric current passing through
them when triggered by a stimulus, such as light.
"They're like double pane windows with a gap between them,"
explains Sotzing. He and his colleagues squirt a mixture of polymers - or as he
calls it, "goop" - in between the layers, creating the lens as it
hardens. The mixture of polymers used in this lens, says Sotzing, creates less
waste and is less expensive to produce than previous mixtures.
"The lifetime of sunglasses is usually very short," says
Sotzing, who points out that people often misplace them. So by making the
manufacturing less expensive, he says, commercial retailers will be able to
produce more of them.
Another benefit of this material is that it can change colors as
quickly as electricity passes through it - which is virtually instantaneously.
This process could be very useful for the military, Sotzing says. For
example, if a person emerges from a dark passageway and into the desert, a lens
that would alter its color instantly to complement the surroundings could mean
life or death for some soldiers.
"Right now, soldiers have to physically change the lenses in their
goggles," Sotzing says. "This will eliminate that need." Sotzing
will begin a one-year sabbatical at the Air Force Academy
In November 2010, partially based on work supported by the Center for
Science and Technology Commercialization's Prototype Fund, the UConn R and D
Corporation started a company, called Alphachromics Inc., with Sotzing and
colleague Michael Invernale, now a post-doctoral researcher at MIT, as
founders. The university has a patent pending for this new technology, which is
currently under option to the company. Alphachromics is also testing applications
of these polymer systems for energy-saving windows and custom fabrics.
Currently in talks with sunglass manufacturers, Sotzing says that the
world of Hollywood
But Sotzing stresses that the best thing about this technology is the
creation of business in Connecticut
"We don't make the sunglasses," he says. "We make the
formulation of what goes inside them."
Sotzing's collaborators on the paper are Invernale and Ph.D. students
Yujie Ding, Donna Mamangun and Amrita Kumar. The research was funded by the
tech/textile company ITP-GmbH.
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