Telescopic Contact Lens Lets You Zoom In to Improve Vision

Want to zoom in on a view without having to lug around a camera? You may be in luck. Researchers in California and Switzerland have come up with a prototype of a telescopic contact lens that, when paired with special glasses, can let the wearer toggle back and forth between regular and magnified vision. In tests with a robotic eye, researchers reportthe lens could actually allow wearers to zoom in on distant objects, magnifying them 2.8 times, much like zooming in with the telescopic lens on a camera. The technology aims to correct the most common cause of severe vision loss after age 50: age-related macular degeneration. This condition damages a person's central vision and ability to focus on fine details, and it currently affects almost 2 million people in the U.S., according to the CDC. For those with such vision degeneration, options are limited to getting a thick pair ...