Posts Tagged ‘Night Vision’

Night driving glasses with lenses that have an anti-reflection coating are generally considered the best. These can be clear type of night vision driving glasses or the tinted type of night vision driving glasses.

Yellow tinted night vision driving glasses are also helpful to filter out blue light scatter and preserving a natural balance of colors.

Some people look for night vision driving glasses that have both a yellow tint and anti-reflective coating.

There have been several Patents filed with the Patent’s Office over the years aiming to improve driving safety though various kinds of night vision driving glasses.

Here are just afew of them:-

4070097

Ophthalmic antireflection coatings with metal, dielectric, substrate, metal, dielectric in sequence January, 1978 Gelber 359/722

4470673

Eyewear with translucent superior field of view September, 1984 Gilson et al.

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Eyewear with translucent superior field of view September, 1985 Gilson et al.

4859047

Glare reducing night driving glasses August, 1989 Badewitz

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Special lens for eyeglasses April, 1990 Takeuchi

The Dangers of Night Driving and Hazards to be Addressed in the Design of  Special Night Driving Glasses

Night driving is difficult for many people and poses traffic hazards. Objects and road signs normally visible in daylight are difficult to see at night, even on well-lit streets. Moreover, impaired night vision can adversely effect a driver’s ability to judge distance. If one is unable to perceive the location of an object relative to its surroundings, then one may not realize that the object is closer than it appears. Closer distances require shorter reaction time and the risk of accident is increased. Not being able to see an object until driving closer to it might easily mean the difference between striking the object and avoiding it.

Glare from extraneous light sources create another hazard of night driving. The most common source of glare, light from the headlights of oncoming traffic, is temporarily blinding, and a driver may require several seconds to recover from the glare and readjust to the darkness. During this recovery time, the driver is not able to direct his or her attention to the road, increasing the risk of accident.

Illumination from streetlights create yet another night driving hazard. The light from streetlights is localized and illuminates only objects within its vicinity. This localized illumination makes the unlit surroundings appear even darker. When surroundings are invisible, a driver’s frame of reference is removed, further impairing the driver’s ability to see and to judge distance.

In view of all these hazards, it has become desirable to wear glasses to improve nighttime vision without increasing the glare of oncoming headlights. To this end, several eyeglass designs previously have been proposed.

There has been proposed night glasses having lenses tinted yellow (TWA Ambassador magazine, May/June 1991, p. 21). However, these glasses cannot reduce glare from oncoming headlights. In the same advertisement, there is disclosed daytime sunglasses having the upper portion of the lenses tinted brown and the lower portion of the lenses tinted yellow. However, the upper and lower tints of the daytime glasses blend at a position directly opposite the wearer’s pupil. Therefore, under normal viewing, the wearer looks through a blend of colors, eliminating the benefits of the specially chosen tints.

More Information About Night Vision Driving Glasses Patents

Here is more information on Patents relating to Night Driving Glasses

The Effects Of Driving At Night

Here we explain some of the effects of night driving on your vision.

The Blur Effect

The so-called blur effect is when what you see in the dark becomes blurred. This happens because when the light levels are reduced, the pupil in the middle of the eye open up in size to admit more light. This can cause what you see to become de-focussed or blurred.

Glare

Glare from automobile lights, particularly from the rear view mirror can lead to temporary loss of vision.

Change Of Light Intensity

It is well known that our eyes take time to adjust to new levels of light, whether going from a dark place to a bright place or vice versa. While our eyes take this time to adjust there is a temporary impairment to our vision.

Moving from bright areas (high levels of road lighting such as large motorway intersections) to dark areas, end of the intersection in rural areas where there are minimal road lights occurs frequently on any long night journey. The driver suffers, not just temporary vision impairment, but over a long journey the effect can add to fatigue.