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Prescription lenses are coming to Google Glass

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjg4giV6MTvBkicFuE-zhTdmeRpCUGbeAIrQmSjVVXVICN98hMMx1_YjUWziwaRDODEexiYKfrZVm9yyzRrPGtanKs33aJWiJEWUVl3buLEMcOBIsMpx0VTqJ_DRA8FTCicVt5zq-Yrs/s1600/Prescription+lenses+are+coming+to+Google+Glass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjg4giV6MTvBkicFuE-zhTdmeRpCUGbeAIrQmSjVVXVICN98hMMx1_YjUWziwaRDODEexiYKfrZVm9yyzRrPGtanKs33aJWiJEWUVl3buLEMcOBIsMpx0VTqJ_DRA8FTCicVt5zq-Yrs/s640/Prescription+lenses+are+coming+to+Google+Glass.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Brian Matiash, a community manager for Google,
has <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+BrianMatiash/posts">posted</a> (and
quickly removed) a pair of photos <a href="http://phandroid.com/2013/12/04/prescription-google-glass-pictured-in-the-wild-gives-us-our-best-look-at-the-eyewear-yet/">that
show</a> Google Glass being used with prescription lenses.</div>
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Somewhere around 60 percent of people in the
developing world wear glasses, contact lenses or have had corrective eye
surgery, making support for prescription lenses a high priority for Google.</div>
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The photos posted by Matiash were taken on the
Google campus in Mountain View, and resemble a regular pair of glasses with a
Glass attachment clipped to the right side. Here's another shot in more detail.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhk8kSyr3Jex9xkO9fqlvhrcYpOafKPP1OBfkiD68eATMQMEkJwZ0ZWW66MDBjnQN7MCSc9Iz0SZupkt_YhEw_JfRtHu4Sm4CWRmjMNQGNIEzNCaHE0Vlt6Qx_X6aGzneAQTRkF6VvTdY/s1600/Prescription+lenses+are+coming+to+Google+Glass1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhk8kSyr3Jex9xkO9fqlvhrcYpOafKPP1OBfkiD68eATMQMEkJwZ0ZWW66MDBjnQN7MCSc9Iz0SZupkt_YhEw_JfRtHu4Sm4CWRmjMNQGNIEzNCaHE0Vlt6Qx_X6aGzneAQTRkF6VvTdY/s640/Prescription+lenses+are+coming+to+Google+Glass1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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While that makes them look a little hacked
together, it's not actually that different from the normal Google Glass design
-- just that the frame is a little chunkier. It also resembles a version of
prescription Glass that Google <a href="http://img.scoop.it/N2PhQUoVr_mwX7QbyEPmBzl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVaiQDB_Rd1H6kmuBWtceBJ">teased</a> back
in May 2013.</div>
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There's no release date. But support for
prescription lenses was <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/29/5044224/google-shows-off-updated-glass-hardware-with-earbud-and-prescription">added
to the software back in October</a>, so we'd bet 2014 will be a good year for
myopian and hyperopian Glass enthusiasts.</div>
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Prescription lenses are coming to Google Glass

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19Dec2013

Darpa's giant folding spy satellite will dwarf all other space telescopes

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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5kstjGHsGovj_Ap8xCClP9pEgP3YZtYnHV34LNbHr5i_X_Dbpbg3rt-2r6bPpfnq6xly5qE13HC_DQpIe-EDZzfN8YVHZLvG_1KxbEmGurC_9DWu-yVd3qvzTFEKmW3g5VCkRuAXGYY/s1600/DARPAMOIREMembraneOptics-660x440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg5kstjGHsGovj_Ap8xCClP9pEgP3YZtYnHV34LNbHr5i_X_Dbpbg3rt-2r6bPpfnq6xly5qE13HC_DQpIe-EDZzfN8YVHZLvG_1KxbEmGurC_9DWu-yVd3qvzTFEKmW3g5VCkRuAXGYY/s1600/DARPAMOIREMembraneOptics-660x440.jpg" /></a></div>
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Spying could become much easier if a new
lightweight, folding satellite concept gets off the ground.</div>
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Darpa, the military's futuristic research agency,
says it has plans to "break the glass ceiling" of space telescopes by
shooting a new design into orbit that's made of plastic and unfolds into a
mammoth satellite that would dwarf the world's most famous telescopes.</div>
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Darpa's Membrane Optical Imager for Real-Time
Exploitation (MOIRE) program redesigns the traditional glass telescope into an
orbital telescope that's bigger and lighter than previous imaging satellites,
making it easier to spy on larger areas and for longer periods of time.</div>
Launched as a tightly packed cluster of petals 20 feet in diameter, MOIRE
stretches to 68 feet across once it reaches 22,000 miles above the earth. From
orbit, MOIRE could view approximately 40 percent of the earth's surface at once
while recording high resolution images and video, making it the ultimate spying
satellite (Darpa notes that it could also be beneficial in weather forecasting
and disaster response).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_V9kHADzVKtNkM49_qb9-f645CWCSFcksMKEvUzvSncfYA_lHXrHyW1IMN22kPbIwfVaal_iqIw0oRWkY8rUGoSWRNukZXZnrMkLMX2LtLZBxynD1fzB7DsO4yPZcUWCtWKcV6gxb4c/s1600/dot+com+new2+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv_V9kHADzVKtNkM49_qb9-f645CWCSFcksMKEvUzvSncfYA_lHXrHyW1IMN22kPbIwfVaal_iqIw0oRWkY8rUGoSWRNukZXZnrMkLMX2LtLZBxynD1fzB7DsO4yPZcUWCtWKcV6gxb4c/s1600/dot+com+new2+2.jpg" /></a></div>
Up to this point, high resolution imagery has required large-diameter
mirrors, but the thick, heavy glass is difficult to make and expensive. According
to Darpa, to keep up, the glass mirrors are rapidly approaching the point where
they will be too large, heavy and costly for even the largest of today's
rockets.<br />
"Membrane optics could enable us to fit much larger, higher-resolution
telescopes in smaller and lighter packages," said Lt. Col. Larry Gunn,
Darpa program manager, in a <a href="http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/12/05.aspx">statement</a>.
"In that respect, we're 'breaking the glass ceiling' that traditional
materials impose on optics design."<br />
Instead of reflecting light with mirrors or refracting it with lenses as
traditional space telescopes do, MOIRE's membrane -- roughly the thickness of
kitchen plastic wrap -- optics diffract light.<br />
And because MOIRE is so much lighter and smaller at launch, Darpa thinks the
program will be budget-wise and more efficient.<br />
"We're hoping our research could also help greatly reduce overall costs
and enable more timely deployment using smaller, less expensive launch
vehicles," said Gunn.<br />
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Darpa says the MOIRE program is in its second and
final phase and recently demonstrated a ground-based prototype that implemented
several critical aspects of the project.</div>
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