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The switchable telescopic contact lens is an optical device that allows the wearer to chose between standard vision and magnified viewing. It was developed by Eric. J. Tremblay, Igor Stamenov, R. Dirk Beer, Ashkan Arianpour, and Joseph E. Ford at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and at the University of California, San Diego. The work has been funded by DARPA, the US defense research agency.

The device works by allowing for two independent viewing paths through the lens. Positive and negative annular concentric reflectors are arranged in a ring affixed to a hard lens made from polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), allowing the center aperture of the lens unmagnified viewing, while the annular area is magnified 2.8x. The complete lens is only 1.17 mm thick.

An LCD switching system is provided using Samsung 3D TV glasses (model SSG-3100GB) which have been modified by removing the rear analyzer. An orthogonal polarization film covers the central aperture. The viewer is able to electrically control the LCD shutter, thus switching between modes of normal and magnified vision.

The switchable telescopic contact lens is still a prototype, and further development is ongoing. Design methods used for color correction have an adverse effect on visual contrast and image quality, and future designs face the challenge of integrating the switching mechanism into the lens. Also, the experimental lens is not rigid gas permeable like most modern contact lenses made from RGP polymers, and is thus not yet suitable for extended periods of use.

This lens does show a novel and promising approach as a visual aid, using an all-refractive achromatization design. Eventually, improved versions of this lens could be used by those suffering from age-related macular degeneration. AMD affects 1.8 million people in the U.S. alone.