The Science Behind Pinhole Glasses

By Author: Mike Lamb
Total Articles: 62
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The science behind pinhole glasses has been around since long, with people using this method even in the 5th century to aid vision. Originally people used wood or fabrics with slits to help them protect their eyes from glare of the sun. Those who worked near water sources and in areas where there was snow for longer periods used pinhole to protect their eyes.

Pinhole glasses were first introduced some time around the 20th century. This method is hugely used by ophthalmologists to check the vision and determine the extent of a patient's refractive error. Pinhole glasses are also called Stenopeic glasses, where stenopeic means "little opening" in Greek. These glasses have several pinhole size perforations on them which allow lesser amount of light to enter your eyes. They do not have any glass, but they are made from plastic or metal.

These glasses are used by people who suffer ...
... from refractive eye disorders, computer users who work long hours on their computers and also by the elderly. Since pinhole glasses have tiny holes, so this leads to less amount of light entering your eyes. Refractive error is reduced as light from outlying areas is blocked, and the light reaches only the middle part of the pupil. When pinhole eyeglasses were initially introduced, they usually had flat or curved plastic lenses with holes in them. Presently, pinhole glasses come in stylish designs and people can choose a design depending on its functionality.

Just as we see different designs and styles in sunglasses, pinhole glasses too have variety, like shiny black pinhole glasses, matt black pinhole glasses and the transparent black pinhole glasses which comes with a transparent frame. You can get the sports style pinhole glasses which resemble sports sunglasses to a great extent. People who use pinhole glasses now have different styles and varieties to select from.

Some people believe that since pinhole glasses block the light entering your eyes, so they diminish the intensity of light. Another point put up against pinhole glasses is that they reduce peripheral vision, so people who do work on various machines, or drive their car or other vehicle and perform other such activities such not use pinhole glasses while doing such activities.


Mike has been writing and publishing articles about health products. He recently came across a website on pinhole glasses which gave information about this old technique of using pinhole glasses for eyesight correction. Here's an article about pinhole glasses.