Graduated electro-optic device and method

An optical device with one or more spatially variable optical response characteristics, the optical device comprising one or more individual liquid crystal cells, wherein each individual cell comprises:

• a liquid crystal material contained between a single pair of substrates, each substrate having a transparent conductive layer provided thereon;
• an electrode connection contacting each transparent conductive layer;
• and
• a driving signal source in electrical communication with each electrode connection for application of a driving signal to the cell,
• wherein:
• i) an applied driving signal to the electrode connections from the driving signal source creates a voltage gradient in a gradient direction along the pair of transparent conductive layers leading away from the electrode connections;
• and
• ii) the voltage gradient is received by the liquid crystal material to produce a gradient effect in at least one optical response characteristic across at least a portion of the device.