For someone with age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, wearing contact lenses is a luxury not currently available, as they simply can’t meet the requirements for plain sight. A team of American and Swiss engineers is working on a way to alleviate this problem.

Typical contact lenses only re-focus the wearer’s vision. Newly invented lenses for those with AMD will have the ability to re-focus and magnify. They come as a result of the team’s research into improving the eyesight of those with retina damage.

They found that when vision becomes magnified, more light is allowed to enter someone with AMD’s eyesight, thus the parts of the retina that remain intact are allowed light that wouldn’t usually be available. When a pair of liquid crystal glasses is worn, parts of the contact lenses can be shut off to fit in with the wearer’s environment.