There seems to have a been a few stories of late discussing new technologies being developed in glass. The BBC recently ran a piece on Willow Glass  a new type of gorrilla glass as found in iPads and the like. Gorilla glass is a supertough glass and has found a use in many phones and tablet computers as it is superior to plastics.

 These days it's mobile technology that is the first port of call for glass technologies but many of these products can, and hopefully will, find their way into optics. Researchers have also been experimenting with pulsed lasers, shooting them at polymers to create ultralight, supertough glasses ( types of glass not specs).

In the recent Optician Awards Bolle and Bushnell were shortlisted  for lightweight glass products. While the material is not used that widely its optical clarity is still widely appreciated it seems.

As for glass technology it marches on and electronics and optics continue to converge. Graphene ( ultrafine graphite film) has long been touted as the next wonder material thanks to its physical, optical and electronic properties. Graphene is like a one atom thick chicken wire arrangement of carbon atoms whose uses stretch from flexible screens to circuit boards. With head up displays and eye control through smart contact lenses with onboard electronics ( see Contact Lenses 2012 in last week's issue) all on the way the convergence with smart glass is simple to imagine.

Optics may have become a Cinderella of the glass technology world but these new developments opens up many possibilities.

Read the complete post at http://www.opticianonline.net/blogs/big-optometry-blog/2012/06/glass-gorillas-in-the-willows.html