What do your eyes and the Earth's atmosphere have in common? They both bend light in strange and unpredictable ways. In fact, this refraction of light rays is the cause of many vision impairments in the same way that it's a perennial problem for astronomers trying to get a clear view of the heavens.

Now the same wavefront technology that adjusts the lenses of telescopes to account for atmospheric aberrations can be used to create glasses that take into account the imperfections in your eyes. Wavefront technology works by shining a light into your eyes and seeing the way it is refracted as it's reflected off your retina. Lenses are then custom built for each eye, taking all these imperfections into account.

The result is the Varilux Physio lens from Essilor. It may not help you spot gaseous nebulae, but it'll sure help you read.