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LCD glasses might replace bifocals

Given the amount of time we spend in front of various screens over the course of the day (and night), it's not surprising that we're a little worried about our vision. But we're also vain enough that the idea of wearing ultra-thick coke-bottle glasses, or even dual-core bifocals, has us a little worried. So, we're ready to volunteer to test the LCD glasses being developed by researchers at the University of Arizona. The specs use electrodes that can alter the configuration of the LCDs, automatically refocusing based on what the wearer is looking at. There are, however, a couple of downsides. Other researchers scoff that the lenses would end up being too heavy and thick (and the prototype pictured here does look kind of goofy). The other downside: if the batteries give out, you're left with plain glass. We wouldn't want to be caught in that position while we're, say, in the middle of passing a tractor-trailer on a rain-slicked highway in the middle of the night. Maybe we'll stick with the coke-bottle lenses for a while, and wait for the white-suits to get the bugs out of this one first.