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Not everyone is so enthusiastic. Do people really need to have eyes like a cat? Dr. Georg Mehrle of the Association of German Ophthalmologists in Dusseldorf thinks not. Although Mehrle believes that "It might physically be possible to enhance night vision" he doesn't see "any practical value in doing so." On the contrary. "It's more important that people drive with caution at night than that they increase speed because they can see better."

Bille's lenses are expected to reach the market in the year 2000, and one tentative plan is to use the Internet to transmit information on patients' visual defects from the optician to the manufacturer, who will then produce and mail the contact lenses within a couple of days. The physicist expects the lenses to cost about $1 a pair, about the same as conventional one-day disposable lenses, and that demand will be "huge." For members of professions in which perfect vision is a must--such as pilots or surgeons--the scientist plans to develop special vision outfits with integrated active mirrors which will adjust sight to the ultimate degree at every given moment. Josef Bille himself will be the first to benefit from the super-lenses he invented: extremely shortsighted and encumbered with thick spectacles, he can't wait for the time when the dark is dark no longer.END