Someone has come up with the idea of using lens technology more than 100 years old to supplement human peripheral vision - possibly giving bike riders enhanced ability to see oncoming traffic, or other riders.
The "Nike Hindsight" design, involves the use of Fresnel lens technology, a lens made up of lots of small angled lens pieces, which when placed in the outer edge of the glass frame could expand the field of view.
While the idea appears to be nothing more than a concept, the use of Fresnel lenses goes back as far as the early 1800s, and at one stage were used in lighthouses. As well as being extremely efficient at capturing light, the lens can be extremely light.
 |
"Hindsight" glasses: tiny visible ridges indicate the existence of a Fresnel lens [Image: http://www.coroflot.com]
|
Presumably this is one of the reasons Fresnel lenses have been used in the Nike Hindsight glasses concept. In the drawings, the glasses appear to have regular, smooth surface, up to the peripheral areas, where there are tiny visible ridges, identifying the existence of a Fresnel lens.
Fresnel lenses are already seen on buses and trucks, where they provide the driver with an expanded area of magnified vision.