Variable Focus Lens for Driver Visual Impairment Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drivers with visual impairments, such as hypermetropia or presbyopia, face difficulties in reading vehicle dashboard instruments without corrective eyewear, as existing solutions like bifocal or varifocal glasses are not universally acceptable or adaptable to individual needs.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle dashboard system featuring a variable focus lens system that adjusts focal length in response to input from a controller, allowing drivers to comfortably read instruments by compensating for their specific visual impairment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If corrective eyeglasses with bi-focal, tri-focal or varifocal lenses are used, then drivers with visual impairments can see both the road ahead and the vehicle instruments, but drivers do not like such corrective eyeglasses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the visual correction function from the driver's body (eyeglasses) and relocates it to the vehicle's dashboard instrument display system. A lens system is integrated into the dashboard, positioned to provide optical correction specifically for viewing the instruments, while leaving the driver's natural vision for the road unaffected. This eliminates the need for corrective eyeglasses while maintaining the ability to view both road and instruments clearly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary lens system as a mediator between the driver's eye and the dashboard instruments. This lens system optically modifies the light path from the instruments to the driver's eye, providing the necessary focal correction. The lens acts as an intermediary that bridges the gap between the driver's visual impairment and the need to read instruments at close range, without requiring the driver to wear corrective eyewear.
2Ease of operation
If the vehicle is adapted for the visual needs of a specific driver, then that driver can read instruments easily, but it becomes difficult for a driver with different visual needs to drive the vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic lens system where the focal length can be adjusted in real-time. The lens is not fixed at a single focal point but can change its optical properties to accommodate different viewing distances and visual requirements. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the system to adapt to different drivers' visual needs, maintaining ease of instrument reading regardless of which driver is operating the vehicle.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the optical parameters of the lens system, specifically the focal length, to match different drivers' visual requirements. By adjusting the focal length parameter, the system can be optimized for each driver's specific visual impairment characteristics. This parameter adjustment enables the same vehicle to be adapted to multiple drivers with different visual needs, resolving the contradiction between customization and versatility.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables drivers with visual impairments to read dashboard instruments more easily, adapting to individual needs without requiring universal modifications that could complicate use for drivers with different impairments.
Implementation Method 1
The lens system includes a variable focus lens operable for, responsive to input from a lens controller, adjusting to a focal length suitable for countering the visual impairment of the driver
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle dashboard instrument display for displaying vehicle operating information to a driver includes a lens system adjacent the instruments and interposed between the driver and the instruments. The lens system includes a variable focus lens operable for, responsive to input from a lens controller, adjusting to a focal length suitable for countering the visual impairment of the driver to render the instruments more easily readable by the driver.