A new technology for eyewear allows wearers to change their transparent lenses into shaded ones, or vice versa, in seconds.

The new technology is a significant upgrade to transition lenses, which only become darker in shade when they are exposed to UV radiation or light. The new eyewear is able to switch the shade of its lenses when the wearer decides to do so.

The glasses and lenses were designed by the John Reynolds Research Group from the Georgia Institute of Technology, with the goal in mind of including features that are not presently found in transition or photochromic lenses.

Study lead author Anna Österholm said that most transition lenses that are currently available in the market today are not meeting the needs of its users.

For example, when people are driving their cars or wearing caps, the transition lenses remain clear instead of transforming into darker shades even when under broad daylight. In addition, most of the transition lenses available are not able to repel the harshest lights, including the very bright light that is reflected from snow. Lastly, the transition from dark shades to a clear one may require several minutes, which could have safety implications for wearers such as aircraft pilots.

To solve the issues, Österholm's research team developed the new kind of lenses that have the ability to darken and brighten their shade within a few seconds.

The study on the project, which was published in the ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces journal, explained that the lenses of the user-controlled eyewear were made from blends of electrochromic polymer.

ECPs are attractive and flexible materials that are also used in the manufacturing of plastic electronics. In addition, these materials have low costs and only consume electricity in small amounts.

The electrochromic eyewear that was developed by the researchers have high-contrast, fast-switching lenses, which also give the wearers the ability to customize the hues of the lenses, which would allow the eyewear to look like fashionable sunglasses.

The new technology may prove to be very beneficial for people that are often carrying out outdoor activities and people that travel a lot. In addition, police officers, pilots, construction workers and other professionals that do the bulk of their job outdoors would receive more comfort from the new eyewear, as it could still remain clear while the wearer is under the sun and darken their shade only when required.

The research team used a combination of inkjet printing and blade-coating to construct the lenses, demonstrating the possible usage of soluble ECPs if the product would go into mass production.

The study received funding from the BASF Corporation, which is the biggest chemical producer in the world.