ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Lens clock

Okay kiddo, do you know what a lens is? It’s kind of like a special piece of glass that helps you see things better. Think of it like when you put on your glasses and suddenly everything looks clearer.

Now a lens clock is a special tool that helps us figure out exactly how the lens is shaped. See, not all lenses are made the same way. Sometimes they’re thicker in the middle, and sometimes they’re thicker on the edges. The lens clock helps us measure these differences so that we can make sure your glasses (or camera lenses) work just right.

So, imagine you have a lens that’s really thick in the middle. It’ll make things look bigger when you look through it, almost like a magnifying glass. But if you have a lens that’s thicker on the edges, it might make things look smaller.

By using the lens clock, we can measure how much thicker the lens is in different places, which helps us figure out how it’s going to work when we use it. And that’s how we make sure your glasses (or camera lenses) help you see things just the way you need to!