A personalized design for progressive addition lenses

We propose a numerical method for the design of a progressive addition lens (PAL) that can accommodate more personal needs as compared to using the analytical solution of the Laplace equation. In our method, the auxiliary functionu(x,y) of a PAL is obtained by the numerical solution of the Laplace equation with the boundary and link conditions. The boundary condition is obtained using the genetic algorithm with the input from the individual requirement. The link condition is determined using the finite difference method with a smoother u(x,y) on the meridian. Two examples are given for outdoor and office use. In both cases, the astigmatism area is pushed towards a small area near the edge of the lens.