When he looks at the latest technology in eyewear, Dr. Steve Jacobsen doesn't just see a pair of glasses.

He sees the future.

Jacobsen and Dr. Dale Bahner of Eye Site in Fremont are the first optometrists in town - and among the first in Nebraska - to offer electronic focusing eyewear. People who wear bifocals or progressive lenses can benefit from this new technology.

Designed by optometrist Dr. Ronald Blum, the new eyewear includes an electronic control module in the frames that activates a layer of liquid crystals embedded in each lens.

The wearer activates the automatic mode by swiping the temple of the frames, much like the way he would a touch pad on a computer. When the person looks down, the glasses will provide the magnification needed for close-up tasks such as threading a needle, putting bait on a hook or reading. If the person looks up, the magnification shuts off - making the entire lens available for mid-range activities, such as walking down stairs or stepping off a curb.

The magnification can be turned on or off in an instant.

When operating automatically, the glasses recognize when the person's head posture changes about 15 degrees. If the wearer operates them manually, he can touch the temple to turn on the magnification and touch it again to turn it off. The lenses provide wider fields of view and less distortion.

The new product, called emPower, has been in the making for more than 10 years and is just now being released in the Midwest, said Laura Prezell, area sales manager for PixelOptics.

"Baby boomers are loving it," said Prezell of the new eyewear. "We live in such an on-demand world and to be able to have that instant control - to turn off that high magnification that you just don't use that often - is such a benefit to people's lives."

At night, the glasses are put into a charger. The average overnight charge will last two or three days.

Prezell added that the glasses have no wires or antennas and come in many different frame styles and colors.

Cost for the eyewear, including the water-resistant frames, lenses, electronics and chargers, starts at $1,200. Prezell said the cost includes no-glare and ultraviolet protection and the thin, lightweight lenses.

Jacobsen sees the new eyewear as a milestone.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with introducing the United States to bifocals.

"As we understand it, he broke his far glasses and his near glasses in half and put them together and made the first bifocal," Jacobsen said. "About 170 years later, in the late '50s, they started out with a way of trying to blend that line so you couldn't see it - so that way you could have the benefits of the bifocal, but not have the line. And since then, they've got literally 500 options, ways of blending lenses."

Since it was introduced, the electronic focusing eyewear has attracted a good deal of attention.

"It was just a year ago in January that we were at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and we actually took home the prize for Most Innovative New Product and then it went absolutely viral," Prezell said. "It went to USA Today, to the New York Times ... It just spread so quickly, which led us to move our production a little bit faster. It just showed the demand that consumers do have for this instant type of correction."

Jacobsen sees all sorts of future possibilities.

"I can imagine the electronics maybe using the other temple to have a change into instant sunglasses," Jacobsen said. "There are mirrors now that you can touch that will anti-fog with electronics and the welders have light-activated protection."

Jacobsen said he enjoys being on the edge of technology.

"You're taking eyewear to a whole new level," said April Cochran, sale representative for Apex Eyewear. "It's a major step for the optical world."