The end of multifocal glasses: the innovative glasses that change the focus

At the CES exhibition held this week in Las Vegas, one of the most intriguing innovations in the field of vision in recent years was presented, glasses with automatic focus lenses designed to replace the familiar multifocal lenses. This is a development of the IXI company, a European start-up that seeks to innovate a field that is considered particularly conservative, and that has not undergone a fundamental change since the middle of the last century.

The glasses are mainly intended for people aged 45 and over, a broad population that suffers from age-related farsightedness. Today, as mentioned, many are forced to adapt to multifocal or bifocal lenses, in which the fields of vision are fixed, and sometimes create distortions, dizziness and difficulty in adapting. The new solution seeks to eliminate this separation, and allow one lens to automatically adjust itself to the distance at which the gaze is focused at any moment.

The technology is based on a combination of an eye tracking system and extremely thin liquid crystal lenses. The glasses detect a change in the focus of the gaze, for example a transition from reading on the phone to looking into space, and adjust the optical prescription almost immediately. Unlike other smart glasses systems, no cameras or heavy image processing are used here, but an energy-efficient infrared system.

LEDs and photoelectric sensors are integrated into the frame, which emit invisible infrared light and measure its reflection from the eye. This way you can detect subtle eye movements and the way the two eyes converge when focusing closely. According to the company, the power consumption of the system is extremely low, only about 4 milliwatts, a figure that enables a full day of use on a single charge.

According to the company, even in the event of the battery being depleted, the glasses continue to function as normal glasses with the basic prescription, but without the added focus for close reading. This means that there is no complete dependence on the electronic operation for daily use.

The tracking system has additional potential beyond improving vision. The sensors detect blink rate, gaze direction and eye usage patterns. This data can be used to evaluate fatigue, attention, dry eyes and even posture patterns and neck movement. The information should be displayed in an accompanying application, but at this stage it is general data and not a medical diagnostic tool.

The company states that in the future it will be possible to develop more advanced capabilities, such as dynamic adjustment of the prescription during the day, for example strengthening the correction during hours of visual fatigue. This is a direction that has not yet been tried in commercial products in the field of optics.

In order to bring the product to market, the company is required to meet regulatory approvals in the field of medical devices and complete production processes. For this purpose, a collaboration was signed with the Swiss lens manufacturer Optiswiss. According to the statements, the glasses will be placed in the premium category and sold through opticians, similar to luxury glasses. The company estimates that the first commercial launch will take place during the coming year. If the product does live up to expectations, it may offer a new alternative to millions of users and place a question mark around the future of multifocal lenses as they are known today.