Finnish eyewear company IXI is gearing up to launch smart glasses that look just like ordinary spectacles, but are able to “autofocus” based on the perceived needs of the wearer.
The glasses contain eye-tracking sensors as well as liquid crystals in the lenses, which are used to change the prescription instantaneously. The result, according to the company, is an improvement on current bifocal or varifocal lenses, both of which are meant for people who need assistance seeing both far and close distances, but come with drawbacks.
Bifocal lenses, whose invention is widely credited to Benjamin Franklin in the late 18th century, are split into two areas of different magnification, with the main area usually addressing long distance vision and a smaller cutout usually addressing reading or near vision.
A more recent upgrade to that classic design is the varifocal lens from the 1960s, which offers a similar solution but has a smooth, rather than abrupt, transition between the areas of magnification, aiming for a more seamless vision.
Both require the user to look through the correct part of the lens to focus on objects near or far, and while varifocals are credited with a smoother user experience, they also cause distortions in peripheral vision and require an adaptation period, on top of being several times more expensive than regular or bifocal lenses.
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