The iPod, iPhone and iPad will soon be joined by electronic “eye”wear for the gadget-gobbling over-40 set.

Dubbed “emPower,” this version of bifocals will allow wearers to see from near to far, and far to near, with the tap of a finger on the frame. The secret optical ingredient: liquid crystals, like those that send vivid color and ultra-crisp outlines to your high-definition TV screen.

Developed by a Roanoke, Va.-based company called PixelOptics in conjunction with Panasonic, these high-tech eyeglasses come with a cellphone-like charger and need to be plugged in every few days.



"It's the iPad of eyewear," said Carmen Walker, owner of Hampden Optical on Carlisle Pike in Hampden Twp. Both Hampden Optical and Kirman Eye on Main Street in Hummelstown are to begin offering emPower this month.



“There’s a lot of excitement. It’s really catching on” in the South, where it has already debuted, Walker said.

Optician Bruce Kirman of Kirman Eye said the electronic eyeglasses are expected to be big among high-end gadget gurus over the age of 40 who have trouble seeing to read as well as need help with distance vision. They solve a stubborn problem that has been around since Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals in 1784.

The bifocals or no-line progressive lenses now on the market magnify fine print close-up, but may blur objects more than an arm’s length away when the wearer looks down, through the bottom portion of the lenses.

But with the new emPower lenses, Walker said it’s “like turning bifocals on and off again.” They alternate from close-up reading to distance viewing thanks to a thin layer of liquid crystals sandwiched between two plastic layers.

Walker learned about emPower at a seminar and tried them on, saying they look, feel and weigh the same as regular eyeglasses and are simple to use. Kirman also received training on the lenses at a national trade show. They focus in the blink of an eye and without a sound.

When the emPower wearer tilts his or her head down to look at something up close, the accelerometer senses the motion and then sends an electronic signal to the lens. The lens contains a substance similar to that used in liquid-crystal displays in HDTVs. The battery’s current alters how the liquid crystals reflect light, changing the prescription of the lens. The lenses can operate in automatic mode, when the switch between full or partial reading prescription depends on where the wearer looks, or in manual mode, in which the wearer can decide when to adjust the glasses to a reading prescription. The manual mode is controlled by a tap of the finger on the right temple of the eyeglasses.

The devices are not for the light of purse, with an expected price tag of around $1,200. That price includes frames, lenses, coatings and charger. There are several frame styles to choose from, and the lenses can be replaced if your prescription changes.

“They will be attractive to a certain market,” Walker predicted. “It is all premium product.” The glasses have a “higher quality frame” and originate from a “good, reputable company.”

“It’s a neat new lens,” agreed Kirman. “It creates a whole new category of lens technology.”