Lately I have been straining to read the ever-shrinking text on labels, instruction manuals and even newspapers. It's why that jeweler's loupe comes in so handy. I should probably suck it up and buy reading glasses, but I'm not ready to take that step.

What I really want are these super cool changeable focus eyeglasses invented in Japan. Mitsui Chemicals has developed the TouchFocus, a pair of specs with a really useful feature:

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At first glance, TouchFocus™ appears to be simply a pair of stylish glasses. Hidden inside, however, is a wide array of advanced technology. With a touch to a sensor installed in the temple, the eyewear will change focus from far to near instantaneously. Electricity runs from a battery through an electric circuit, activating a liquid crystal area in the lenses. The near zone can be toggled on and off as needed.

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It provides a wide area of vision with minimized swim and distortion and removes the need to switch between multiple pairs of glasses.

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Each pair of TouchFocus ™ is created to match each individual's eyeglass prescription and design tastes, with 20 frame designs to choose from.

The TouchFocus has just been rolled out in Japan (there's a list of brick-and-mortar retailers here), and they are shockingly expensive: MSRP is ¥250,000, which is about USD $2,229. The company mentions their goal is to have "100 retail locations carrying TouchFocus™ by Spring 2019 and annual sales of 50,000 pairs by 2022." Fifty thousand in four years doesn't sound like all that much, so it's possible these will be for the home market only.