Innovative lenses will boost learning

Joshua Silver:

Sir, You identify the life-changing potential of glasses for children in the developing world, shortlisted for the Design Museum's Design of the Year award ("Design shortlist balances form against function", January 14), but credit for the design belongs not to me personally but to the team at the Centre for Vision in the Developing World, of which I am CEO, and consultants Goodwin Hartshorn.

The true innovation of these glasses is not that their size is adjustable but that the wearer can - under the supervision of, for instance, a schoolteacher - adjust the power of each lens to correct his or her own vision.

Clinical trials (references are available at cvdw.org) have shown that young people aged 12-18 as well as adults are able to achieve good correction by this process of self-refraction. We estimate that today at least 60m short-sighted children in the developing world lack access to accurate vision correction.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 18, 2013 2:38 AM
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