Compassionate Design

It is heartwarming to see a practical application of design used to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. More than a billion people in the developing world need glasses. But opticians are not available to the majority of the world's poor. In some places the ratio is one to one million residents. Pondering this problem, Oxford University physics professor Joshua Silver came up with a brilliantly simple solution: a pair of eyeglasses, currently costing about $19, that the wearer can adjust. Silicone oil is injected into a gap between two sheets of plastic until the lens provides sharp vision. The inventor’s field research shows the correction can be better than that of prefab glasses sold at a store.

As director of the new nonprofit Centre for Vision in the Developing World, Silver envisions a billion pairs on needy eyes by 2020. So far, 30,000 pairs are in use in Africa and eastern Europe, two-thirds distributed through U.S. military aid programs. Now that is good design!

The potential for using technology, design and other resources to adequately address poverty is within our reach, but not our will. According to a 2005 United Nations Children’s Fund report, successfully combating world poverty would only cost between $40 and $70 billion. Compare that to the worldwide annual budget for military expenditures which, as of 2004 was over $1100 billion.