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GREENSBORO — Soon, you could be docking your eyeglasses in the evening along with your smartphone.

Electronic focusing eyewear has arrived in Greensboro and you can be among the first to buy what might be called smartglasses.

But like all new technology, it comes at a price.

Target customer: presbyops, otherwise known as people who need bifocals or progressive lenses.

The emPower electronic focusing eyewear uses a layer of liquid crystals, powered by an electric charge, to change the focus from distance to reading. Users touch the frame of the glasses at the temple to switch reading focus on and off.

In automatic mode, the glasses can sense motion, thanks to what the company, PixelOptics, describes as the world’s smallest accelerometer, and change to reading focus when the head is lowered.

“The main complaints we get about progressive lenses are that the reading area is too small, there’s distortion around the edges, and golfers, for example, can’t look down and see clearly,” says Jennifer McGuire, optician with Triad Eye Center in Greensboro. The emPower glasses address all these issues.

The reading field, when activated, is 30 millimeters wide, compared to 10 millimeters in traditional progressive lenses. That provides more reading area and means you’re much less likely to notice distortion around the edges. People who find themselves tripping when going downstairs, or unable to focus on their tee shot because they’re looking down through the reading area of their glasses, can simply turn it off.

“Most people are only reading 30 percent of the day,” McGuire says. That vision correction is crucial when you need it, but it can be an annoyance when you don’t.

The glasses rest upside-down in a small dock to recharge the battery, which takes about two hours and lasts for two or three days.

Does that mean it can short out in a heavy downpour?

“In general, you aren’t supposed to get them wet, but rain is probably not going to hurt them,” McGuire says.

The glasses require the same kind of care as a cellphone. Keep them dry and treat them gently.

Unfortunately, they aren’t quite smart enough to sense your prescription and change when your vision does. The primary part of the frame will have your distance vision prescription and an intermediate vision correction, if you need it. The only part that changes is the reading area in the lower portion of the glasses.

When your prescription changes, you’ll have to change the lenses, just as you do with traditional glasses.

The emPower glasses are only available on the East Coast for now. Triad Eye Center and Eye Care Center in Winston-Salem are the only Triad locations offering them so far. Only about 250 pairs have been sold nationally.

The price is about $1,800, though Triad Eye Center’s 30 percent discount takes the price down to about $1,263. The manufacturer also is offering a $250 rebate for people who are willing to blog about their experiences with the new glasses.

McGuire expects the early adopters to be people who appreciate new technology and electronics.

“People think it’s really cool,” McGuire says. “But the price makes some of them shy away.”

The funniest question they’ve gotten so far?

“A couple of people asked if it had a car charger,” says office manger Becky Rodio. “Seriously? I’m pretty sure you need to be wearing them when you drive.”

Contact Susan Ladd at 373-7006 or susan.ladd@news-record.com