Lenses for outdoors and indoors
One pair of glasses to rule them all
Scientifically referred to as photochromic lenses, adaptive lenses are glass lenses that react to a change in brightness and automatically adjust the tint of the lens to ensure clear and comfortable vision at all times.
Nicknamed “light adaptive” or “variable tint” lenses, the most well-known brand around the globe is Transitions and some eye professionals have taken to calling all photochromic lenses Transitions, because of the popularity of the brand. Adaptive lenses are best understood as indoor/outdoor lenses - in other words, one pair of glasses can be worn inside and outside without having to change or add a clip-on accessory for adjustment of tint.
Those who work indoors may not realise that the lighting used in any daily work setting could be damaging to the eyes. Most indoor lighting utilises artificial or mild versions of ultraviolet light, including infrared radiation. Additionally, wearing polarized lenses while outdoors can protect the eye by blocking ultraviolet light, but can also significantly reduce the glare from oncoming headlights while driving in the evening hours (after sunset). Wearing one pair of indoor/outdoor lenses handles both issues. Better still, these eyeglasses are not necessarily prescription based, so even those with perfect vision can still benefit from wearing them.
Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light and high-energy visible (referred to as HEV) radiation directly increases the chances of long-term eye damage. The retinal damage from these harmful rays and radiation can lead to degenerative eye diseases such as cataracts and might significantly increase the rate at which the eyes age. Wearing adaptive lenses can greatly reduce these chances.
Who Needs Indoor/Outdoor Lenses?
If you need to change your glasses when moving from inside to out or need to wear sunglasses to avoid squinting in strong sunlight, you should consider indoor/outdoor lenses. Adaptive lenses save the wearer time and money, plus they block up to 100 percent of visible harmful rays and radiation - whether impacting the eyes from inside a closed environment or outside in the natural elements. Not long ago, the only option for this kind of eye protection were lenses in bendable frames that wrapped around the head, but now stylish adaptive lenses are available in bifocal, high-index or progressive lenses.
Helpful Uses of Adaptive Lenses
Adaptive lenses can be very helpful for a multitude of activities that we do everyday. Some of these activities are:
- Driving (short or long distances)
- Doing outdoor work such as gardening or construction
- Frequent travelers or jet-setters, etc.
However, not all adaptive lenses are created equal. So some benefits are specific to high-quality adaptive lenses that ensure the most comfortable experience. As mentioned before Transitions are the best known adaptive lens brand in the world, and provide all the benefits you would want from your photochromic adaptive lenses.
Most lower quality adaptive lenses cannot activate their adaptive abilities from behind the windshield of a car. However, Transitions Xtractive has a light-activated tint that’s smart enough to activate while you’re driving.
Also the time taken to adapt to the brighter light when stepping outdoors or into a brightly lit room varies depending on your lenses. The exponential increase in brightness can hurt your eyes and be very uncomfortable, so using Transitions can help prevent these situations, because the lenses automatically tints up to eight times darker in just seconds.
Also, for a comfortable viewing experience it is essential to have lenses that only tint slightly when indoors but polarise greatly when outdoors, delivering a greater reduction of glare in reflective conditions. This delivers crystal clear vision regardless of the glare or if you’re in a dimly lit room.