They may appear as an ordinary pair of spectacles, but these glasses are packed with advanced technology.
During a Zoom interview, Niko Eiden, CEO and co-founder of the Finnish eyewear company IXI, showcased frames with lenses containing liquid crystals, demonstrating their ability to dynamically adjust vision correction.
This single pair has the potential to correct the vision of individuals who typically require separate glasses for near and far distances.
“These liquid crystals…can be rotated using an electrical field,” Mr. Eiden explained.
“It’s completely, freely tunable.” The orientation of these crystals influences how light passes through the lenses. An integrated eye-tracking system allows the glasses to adapt to the specific correction needed by the wearer at any given moment.
However, the history of tech-enhanced eyewear is not without its challenges, as exemplified by Google’s unsuccessful “Glass” smart glasses.
Consumer acceptance is paramount, Mr. Eiden acknowledges. Most individuals do not wish to resemble cyborgs: “It’s essential that our products resemble existing eyewear.”
The market for technologically advanced eyewear is poised for growth.
Presbyopia, an age-related condition affecting near vision, is projected to become increasingly prevalent due to global population aging. Additionally, myopia, or nearsightedness, is also on the rise.
Spectacles have remained largely unchanged for decades. Bifocal lenses, which divide the lens into two sections, typically for near and far vision, require the wearer to consciously shift their gaze through the appropriate region for clear focus.
Varifocal lenses serve a similar purpose, but with smoother transitions between focal lengths.
In contrast, auto-focus lenses promise to adjust either a portion or the entirety of the lens automatically, and even adapt to changes in the wearer’s vision over time.
“The initial lenses we produced were quite poor,” Mr. Eiden admitted candidly.
He described the early prototypes as “hazy,” with noticeably subpar lens quality at the edges.
However, he stated that newer versions have demonstrated promising results in testing. Participants in the company’s trials were asked to, for instance, read text on a page and then focus on a distant object to assess the glasses’ ability to smoothly adjust to the transition.
Mr. Eiden clarified that while the eye-tracking technology within the spectacles cannot precisely determine what a wearer is looking at, specific activities such as reading can be detected based on characteristic eye movements.
Given the responsive nature of these glasses to the wearer’s eye behavior, proper frame fit is crucial, according to Emilia Helin, product director.
IXI’s frames offer limited adjustability due to the sensitive electronics housed within, she explained: “We have some flexibility, but not complete flexibility.” Consequently, IXI aims to ensure its small range of frame designs accommodates a diverse array of facial structures.
The compact battery integrated into IXI’s autofocus frames is designed to last for two days, Mr. Eiden stated, adding that the glasses can be recharged overnight during sleep.
However, he refrained from specifying a launch date, indicating it would be revealed later in the year. When questioned about a potential price point of around £1,000, he simply responded with a smile, neither confirming nor denying the suggestion.
Paramdeep Bilkhu, clinical advisor at the College of Optometrists, suggested that autofocus lenses could benefit individuals who struggle with varifocal or bifocal lenses.
However, he cautioned, “There is insufficient evidence to determine whether they perform as effectively as traditional options and whether they are suitable for safety-critical tasks such as driving.”
Chi-Ho To, an optometry researcher at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, voiced a similar concern: what if the vision correction malfunctioned or experienced a slight delay while performing a delicate procedure, such as surgery?
“But I believe having something that offers autofocus capabilities would be beneficial for general use,” he added.
Mr. Eiden pointed out that the initial version of his company’s lenses will not alter the entire lens surface. “One can always glance over the dynamic area,” he noted. He acknowledged that if fully self-adjusting lenses become a reality, safety considerations will become “a much more serious matter.”
In 2013, the UK-based firm Adlens introduced glasses that allowed wearers to manually adjust the optical power of the lenses using a small dial on the frames. These lenses incorporated a fluid-filled membrane, which, when compressed by dial adjustments, altered its curvature.
According to Rob Stevens, the current CEO of Adlens, the glasses retailed for $1,250 (£920) in the US and were “well-received by consumers,” but faced resistance from opticians, which he said “stifled sales.”
Since then, technology has progressed, leading to the development of lenses that automatically refocus without manual intervention.
Like IXI and other companies, Adlens is currently developing glasses that offer this capability. However, Mr. Stevens declined to specify a launch date.
Joshua Silver, a physicist from Oxford University, founded Adlens but is no longer affiliated with the company.
He conceived the idea of fluid-filled adjustable lenses in 1985 and developed glasses that could be adjusted to the wearer’s specific needs and then permanently set to that prescription.
These lenses have provided approximately 100,000 individuals in 20 countries with access to vision correction technology. Professor Silver is currently seeking investment for a venture called Vision, which aims to further expand the availability of these glasses.
Regarding the more expensive, electronics-laden auto-focus spectacles, he questioned their broad appeal: “Wouldn’t [people] simply purchase reading glasses, which would more or less achieve the same result for them?”
Other advanced eyewear technology is even mitigating the progression of eye conditions such as myopia, rather than merely correcting for them.
Professor To has engineered glasses lenses with a honeycomb-like ring. Light passing through the center of the ring, focused normally, reaches the wearer’s retina, enabling clear vision.
However, light passing through the ring itself is slightly defocused, resulting in a slightly blurred image on the peripheral retina, known as hyperopic defocus.
This appears to slow improper eyeball growth in children, which Professor To reports reduces the rate of short-sightedness progression by 60%. Glasses incorporating this technology are currently in use in over 30 countries, he added.
The British firm SightGlass employs a slightly different strategy, utilizing glasses that subtly reduce the contrast of an individual’s vision to similarly influence eye growth and the progression of myopia.
While auto-focus glasses and other advanced solutions hold promise, Professor To has an even more ambitious goal: glasses that not only slow down myopia but also partially reverse it—a tantalizing prospect that could improve the vision of potentially billions of people.
“There is growing evidence that it can be done,” Professor To hinted.
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