Speakers Joshua Silver: Optical innovator
Atomic physicist Joshua Silver invented liquid-filled optical lenses to produce low-cost, adjustable glasses, giving sight to millions without access to an optometrist.
Why you should listen to him:
Joshua Silver reckons that around half the world's population needs corrective eyewear, yet has no access to it. His ultra-utilitarian spectacle design relies on the principle that the fatter the lens, the more powerful it becomes. The lenses are filled with liquid, and can be adjusted to different strengths by adding or removing fluid from tiny syringes on each arm, then locked to the right strength.
More than 30,000 of his lenses have been distributed in 15 countries, and a new model will scale that number up to millions.
Quotes by Joshua Silver
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“The problem of poor vision is actually not just a health problem, it’s also an educational problem, and it’s an economic problem, and it’s a quality of life problem.”
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“There are some countries in sub-Saharan Africa where there’s one optometrist for eight million of the population.”
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Josh Silver demos adjustable liquid-filled eyeglasses
- 05:34 Posted: Sep 2009
Joshua Silver on the Web
Related Speakers
Conferences
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- TEDGlobal 2009