Screens to replace reading glasses

If researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and University of California-Berkeley have their way, vision-correcting displays will throw eyeglasses or contact lenses into the trash can.

They are developing computer algorithms to compensate for an individual's visual impairment, and making vision-correcting displays that allow users to see text and images clearly without wearing eyeglasses or contact lenses.

The technology could show the millions who wear corrective lenses a new way to read on smartphones, tablets and computers.

For elderly people who cannot focus on nearby objects, this could mean a life without glasses.

"More importantly, the displays could one day aid people with more complex visual problems, known as high order aberrations, which cannot be corrected by eyeglasses," explained Brian Barsky from University of California.

The researchers displayed images that appear blurred to a camera, just as they will to a far sighted person.

When they used the new prototype display, the blurred images appeared sharp through the camera lens.

"The significance of this project is that, instead of relying on optics to correct your vision, we use computation," said lead author Fu-Chung Huang from University of California.

This is a very different class of correction and it is non-intrusive, researchers added.