- French startup IXI is working on glasses with autofocus lenses
- Built -in sensors track eye movements
- Liquid crystal lenses adjust the focus to match what you are looking at
Squinting to see a sign, tilt your head to look at someone, look down the nose to read a menu: For millions of long -visible people, glasses are a constant compromise. But a new kind of smart glasses aims to clear things using autofocus lenses.
The Finnish start -up IXI is a company that develops a framework with adaptive optics. Its glasses use small sensors to track what you are watching, then liquid crystall lenses to adjust your view that fits. So you can go from checking your phone to watching a game with a flash.
In addition, no one should see any difference. IXI’s goal is to make them look and feel like your normal glasses, with electronics small enough to fit into the frame. So while they may not let you ditch your specifications completely, autofocus glass does not require you to wear a voluminous headset.
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When it comes to long -sightedness, the standard fix is currently bifocals. These lenses are divided into two zones: one for distant objects, the other to almost detail. When a user wants to read something close, they have to look through the latter. It is a solution with a learning curve – and one that can involve unnatural head slopes and limited viewing angles.
Progressive lenses offer a bit of a refinement and smooth the transition between near and far, but they still have focal sweet spots. Basically, you can’t see anywhere in the frame of something you want. That’s the problem that IXI plans to solve.
In the heart of its design is a powerful mating: eye-tracking sensors and a rapidly changing lens system. The sensors monitor eye movements and fire harmless light impulses to measure the distance between you and what you are looking at. This data is then traced back to liquid crystal lenses, which can quickly change their curvature to give perfect focus.
According to the IXI, the lenses are adjusted in just 0.2 seconds. The human eye focuses on approx. 0.4 seconds, which should mean that there is no noticeable delay between seeing and seeing. This is especially true for older users: Our eyes become slower to focus as we get older because the natural lenses of the eye become less flexible. This is called Presbyopia and it is the same condition that causes long -sightedness.
This kind of optical technique has been talked about before, but mainly in a research setting. IXI is one of the first laboratories to try to miniaturize the concept of a product for daily wear. It helps the startup has secured about $ 36 million (about £ 27m / AU $ 56 million) in the financing to speed up the development.
That said, IXI is not the only company working on autofocus glasses. Laclarée and Elcyo are rival ventures in developing similar solutions. None of the three have yet brought a commercial solution to the market, which may be signs of the obstacles that remain before the framework lands on public faces.
Optics of prescription quality is subject to strict medical regulation, which means that autofocus lenses must pass pattern. There is also a matter of durability when it comes to moving parts. Other factors include how to integrate batteries to drive the glasses, while the framework keeps the framework light and comfortable.
Still is promised convincing: a single, adaptive pair of glasses that can replace reading specifications, spacers and bifocals. It’s a step toward really intelligent glasses. If IXI can pull it off, the days of looking over rims may be behind us.
