Fresnel Liquid Crystal Lens Technology: The Key to Adaptive Focus Glasses

2024/8/13 13:332024/9/13 8:38

The "Fresnel Liquid Crystal Lens" is a proprietary technology developed by Elcyo, combining the features of "liquid crystal lenses" and "Fresnel lenses." This innovation has enabled us to significantly reduce the thickness and increase the diameter of liquid crystal lenses, making them comfortable and practical for everyday use in glasses.

With this breakthrough technology, Elcyo has overcome the traditional limitations of liquid crystal lenses, such as their thickness and narrow field of view. Our lenses automatically adjust focus across a wide range of distances, enabling the creation of autofocal glasses.

Combining "liquid crystal lenses" with "Fresnel lenses" results in the revolutionary "Fresnel Liquid Crystal Lens.”

What Are Liquid Crystal Lenses?Fresnel Liquid Crystal Lenses Enable Focus-Adjustable Glasses Autofocal Feature Makes Glasses That "Automatically Adjust to You" Possible

What Are Liquid Crystal Lenses?

Most glasses use lenses made from plastic or glass. However, the glasses developed by Elcyo, called "Autofocal Glasses," use a special type of lens known as "liquid crystal lenses." These lenses have a unique structure where numerous liquid crystal molecules are enclosed within a transparent substrate (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Structure of a Liquid Crystal Lens

When voltage is applied to a liquid crystal lens, the orientation of some liquid crystal molecules changes, which in turn alters the way light bends as it passes through the lens. By adjusting the voltage, it's possible to create the same wavefronts of light (the surface that indicates the direction of light) as conventional convex or concave lenses, allowing the lens to focus or disperse light (Figure 2). Furthermore, the focal point can be adjusted freely by fine-tuning the voltage.

This revolutionary lens can achieve various optical powers simply by changing the voltage—that's what makes liquid crystal lenses so innovative.

Figure 2: (Center) When no voltage is applied, the wavefront of light remains unchanged as it passes through the liquid crystal lens. (Left) When voltage is applied in one direction, the light converges to a single point as if passing through a convex lens. (Right) When voltage is applied in the opposite direction, the light diverges as if passing through a concave lens.

Fresnel Liquid Crystal Lenses Enable Focus-Adjustable Glasses

The "thin and large-diameter" Fresnel Liquid Crystal Lenses are perfectly suited for use in eyeglasses without causing discomfort (no excessive weight or narrow field of view). Moreover, the variable focus range is on par with conventional liquid crystal lenses. In other words, this technology allows for glasses that are "easy to use" and "provide clear focus no matter where you look.”

Figure3: Glasses Using Fresnel Liquid Crystal Lenses (Previous Prototype)

Autofocal Feature Makes Glasses That "Automatically Adjust to You" Possible

By adding an automatic focus adjustment feature (autofocal) to glasses equipped with Fresnel Liquid Crystal Lenses, we can create "Autofocal Glasses" that automatically adjust focus. These glasses change their focus based on the wearer’s eye movements, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.

Elcyo is actively advancing the development of autofocal technology to create next-generation glasses that automatically and precisely adjust to the wearer’s vision needs, whether they have presbyopia, astigmatism, low vision, or nearsightedness.