A newly developed technology could revolutionize most optical devices, making them much more adaptable, yet smaller and cost-effective. The variable liquid lenses and mirrors may one day replace conventional ones in camera phones, for instance, as they have no mechanical parts - thus taking less space - but maintain, if not improve, image quality.

Constructing a lens that does not change focus with the same image quality as one that does is pretty hard, and requires moving parts to alter its position inside the device. A liquid lens works by using the curved boundary between oily and watery liquids, which can be made to curve in a way that focuses light and oil; all it takes is the right voltage and two liquids in the right container.

Consumer electronics company Philips plans to introduce this new design into future optical applications. They will use variable mirrors that will change the shape of their surface to alter the focal length, thus producing the zoom effect.

Much like the liquid lens, Philips' new variable lens will be able to vary its shape at the passing of an electric current, which makes them the ideal candidates for the next generation of DVD readers, since they will need to be backwards-compatible with older DVDs and CDs.

The company also believes that these new mirrors could offer a solution to the limited lifespan of disc players, whose laser spot size must be varied to read data from a variety of different discs, which in time leads to irreparable damage.

The technology isn't one hundred percent reliable just yet, but engineers are hard at work to bring it to the market as soon as possible, which would mean a big advantage for the first company to commercialize it and of course, the only one to hold the patent for the invention.