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Home > News > Sight for sore eyes

Sight for sore eyes

Berkeley Engineer Fall 2014
November 1, 2014 by Jennifer Huber
This article appeared in Berkeley Engineer magazine, Fall 2014
  • In this issue

    Features

    Freedom phones

    Body mechanics

    Where vision meets know-how

    Dean’s Word

    Upfront

    • Launching ‘dev eng’
    • The big picture: Averaging Internet images
    • Smarter stethoscopes
    • Q+A with Grace O’Connell
    • STEM pipeline: Girls in Engineering
    • Comments

    Breakthroughs

    • Great optics: Harnessing light for circuitry 
    • Sight for sore eyes: Vision-correcting display technology
    • Rejuvenating old muscles
    • Evolutionary algorithms
    • Herding cells with electricity

    Alumni notes

    • Smart spoons
    • Measuring DNA health
    • Farewell

    Download this issue

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What if everyone could clearly see their smartphone, tablet, computer and TV screens without having to wear eyeglasses? Brian Barsky, professor of computer science and vision science and affiliate professor of optometry, teamed up with colleagues at MIT to improve vision-correcting display technology. Using an iPod for their prototype, they devised algorithms to make adjustments in the display to compensate for various vision impairments. They designed ways to manipulate the intensity of light emanating from each pixel and added a perforated touchscreen “mask” to further control light and sharpen focus. Given an eyeglasses prescription, researchers can now pre-correct the display to enable that user to see the screen in sharp focus without glasses. The technology could not only help millions who wear glasses, but it could also be transformative for those with vision problems that cannot be corrected by eyeglasses. “People who are unable to view displays are at a disadvantage in the workplace as well as in other aspects of their lives,” says Barsky.

Vision-correcting device displays

 

In November, this research was recognized by Scientific American as one of 10 world changing ideas of 2014.

Topics: Health, Computing, Faculty, Research
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