The Future of Vision: A New Era Brought by Autofocus Glasses

Towards an Era Where Gaze and Lenses Synchronize: The Industrial Transformation and Ethical Challenges Brought by "Autofocus Eyewear"

1. Introduction: The Day When Focusing Stress Disappears

After the age of 40, many people experience the phenomenon of "newspapers and smartphones becoming blurry." This is caused by presbyopia, a condition where the elasticity of the lens deteriorates, reducing the ability to focus on nearby objects. According to estimates by the World Bank, the presbyopic population has reached 1.8 billion, and the eyewear market has expanded to a scale of $170 billion. However, bifocals and contacts have numerous issues such as "divided vision," "need for adaptation," and "dryness." In response, "autofocus glasses" that combine variable lenses such as liquid crystal, microfluidics, and metalenses with gaze tracking technology have begun to emerge. A BBC article dated July 11, 2025, reported on the forefront of this development, garnering significant attention.Reddit

2. The Massive Market of Presbyopia

• Economic Loss: Assuming a 35% decrease in efficiency for near-distance work without glasses, this equates to an annual productivity loss of $400 billion.

• Care and Medical Costs: In the U.S. alone, there are 200,000 fall accidents annually due to poor vision correction.

• Digital Divide: Users in developing countries who cannot adjust visual UX (font size or contrast) face hindered access to information.

The evolution of traditional lenses has been slow, and adjustment speed (0 → 4 D switch in 0.67 seconds) and distortion at the periphery of the field of view have reached their limits. This has created a "white space" for startups.

3. The Startup Landscape

3-1 IXI (Finland)

• Technology: Liquid crystal lenses + infrared eye tracker.

• Performance: Transition within 0.2 seconds at ±4 D. Weight 40 g, continuous operation 12 h.

• Funding: $36.5 million Series A in April 2025 (Amazon, Plural, etc.).TechCrunch

• Business Model: Planning an "OTA update" for prescription degrees via the cloud and a $15 monthly subscription guarantee plan.

3-2 Laclarée (France)

• Technology: Electrowetting liquid lens.

• Features: Deforms 4 µL of silicone oil in a liquid-sealed system with an electric field to maintain a flat field of view.

• Funding: €3.5 million Seed in February 2025.Silicon Canals

3-3 Elcyo (Japan) - University Spin-off

• Technology: Electric field-responsive liquid crystal + MEMS mirror.

• Challenges: 0.3-second delay, ensuring vibration resistance.

The background of the proliferation of competitors is the advancement in miniaturization that allows batteries and sensors to be embedded in frames.

4. Comparison of Core Technologies

Academically, the 67 ms liquid lens drive by the University of Utah and KAIST in Korea in 2021 was a turning point, making commercialization suddenly more realistic.arXiv

5. Gaze Tracking and AI

Gaze data (pupil center + torque angle) can be obtained at 120 samples per second, enabling

• Predictive control of lens drive (smoothing)

• Fatigue detection (blink frequency)

• Behavioral analysis for ad optimization, among other high-value secondary uses.

Under GDPR, it is treated as "biometric data," and IXI has proposed a policy of "automatic deletion within 1 second at the edge." Meanwhile, the marketing industry is keenly interested in it as a powerful indicator of purchasing behavior, making privacy debates inevitable.

6. Clinical Trials and Safety

• IXI: Conducting a prospective trial with n = 120 at Tampere University Hospital in Finland, reporting a LogMAR visual acuity improvement of 0.1.

• Laclarée: Conducting a crossover trial with n = 45 in collaboration with Lyon Ophthalmology Center.

• Common Challenges:

  1. Focus shift dizziness (visual-vestibular mismatch)

  2. Diopter shift due to thermal contraction (50°C on the dashboard)

  3. Charging frequency: 18 h/30 min Qi charging for current prototypes

7. Reactions from Social Media and Communities

Within 48 hours of the BBC article's publication, there were 84,000 posts containing the #AutofocusSpecs tag on X (formerly Twitter) (according to internal crawler research). Main opinions included:

• Optimists

  : "Liberation from the stress of hanging reading glasses around the neck" (@cevaboyz)

• Cautious

  : "Battery dead = vision death flag?" (@Meetmaheshin)X (formerly Twitter)On Reddit r/science, a thread surged, with humorous support like "Spare pair of eyes in my pocket? Yes please
  " alongside concerns such as "Will there be long-term effects on corneal shape?"Reddit

8. Environmental and Sustainability Design

Variable lenses are difficult to recycle due to their composite materials.

• IXI

  : Aiming for 95% component recovery by sliding and detaching batteries and sensors "as modules."IXI

• EU Taxonomy

  : From 2026 onwards, electronic glasses are under consideration to be mandated to use 30% or more recycled materials.

9. Business Model and Price Simulation