Inventions and Technologies that help us see better

What are the most recent break-through inventions in the eye care and eye ware in the world?  Scientific knowledge moves forward all the time and different new technologies help advance eye care.  For example, lasers are now widely used for eye surgery and bio-technology is advancing creation of medicines that help keep eyes healthy.

Lasers are prevalent right now in eye surgeries.  The first eye surgery using a laser was done in 1988 (http://www.lasik.com/articles/laser-vision-correction-history/).

We are all very familiar with the term  LASIK surgery.  But do you know this procedure was discovered in the 1970's by accident by a well known Russian Doctor and was first done without lasers?  In the Soviet Moscow, Dr. Fyodorov, was treating a severely nearsighted young boy who had pieces of glass in his eyes from a fall.  Fortunately, the damage was minimal; a sliver was shaved off the cornea- the clear tissue that forms a protective layer over the eye. Following the accident the boy noticed a vast improvement in his vision.  Dr. Fyodorov examined the child’s eyes and discovered that the tiny cuts made by the glass had reshaped the cornea and corrected the child’s focus.  The doctor became exceedingly intrigued with this unforeseen discovery that he continued to study the matter and published his findings. It was not until a few American doctors with ample funding that the serious research began, bringing the procedure to the U.S. after observing the results in the former U.S.S.R.  This is the manner in which the original LASIK vision correction began.  They used a scalpel to create the cuts, calling the procedure Radial Keratotomy.  Only later the procedure started to be done with the help of lasers and was called LASIK.
(http://www.lasereyecenter.com/the-accidental-discovery-of-lasik-eye-surgery/)
(http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/lasik-laser-eye-surgery)

Since that time, lasers started being used in a lot of eye procedure, including PRK, cataract and glaucoma surgeries.  Laser surgeries have become important and irreplaceable in the treatment of different eye problems and diseases.  Types of surgeries used now to treat glaucoma include Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT), Argon Laser Trabeculoplasty (ALT), Micropulse Laser Trabeculoplasty (MLT), Laser Peripheral Iridotomy (LPI).
(http://www.glaucoma.org/treatment/laser-surgery.php)

Other advances include research in the advanced field of a bionic eye, which is becoming a reality and researches feel its soon will be available to the general public.
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/30/bionic-eye-inventor_n_3187732.html)

An online vision museum provides a history of eye wear that is worth reading: http://www.museumofvision.org/exhibitions/?key=44&subkey=4&relkey=35

Some inventions for eye wear or eye technology are revealed and do not progress because of difficulties in implementation, lack of interest from the public or high cost for mass production.  Such was the eye-wear computer - Google Glass, that sprouted, made a high rise in curiosity but was abandoned as an invention.
(http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/532691/google-glass-is-dead-long-live-smart-glasses/)

Other interesting eye wear technologies include
- Ski goggles with GPS
(http://www.cnet.com/news/skiing-showdown-gps-informed-goggles-miss-the-mark/)
- 3D glasses that allow us enjoy IMAX movies and a more reality experience when watching movies
- Adaptive eye wear (http://www.adaptive-eyewear.org/).