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While some of the world’s biggest tech companies including Meta, Google and (reportedly) Apple are looking to The future of smart glassesThe startups are working on an important innovation for the other type of glasses, which is the regular type. Worn by billions All over the world.
One of those startups is based in Finland Glasses xixhe has He grew up More than $40 million from investors, including Amazon, to build glasses with adaptive lenses that can automatically focus dynamically based on where the wearer is looking.
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In late 2025, the company said it had developed a prototype of the glasses that weighed just 22 grams. It includes built-in sensors that target the wearer’s eyes and liquid crystal lenses that respond accordingly. According to the company, autofocus is “powered by technology hidden inside the frame that tracks eye movements and instantly adjusts focus – whether you’re looking close or far away.”
In contrast, smart glasses such as Meta Ray Ban and Ray Bay displaysin addition to Xreal and Google Hala Projecttend to cameras that view the world around the user and artificial intelligence-enabled features such as facial recognition, language translation, and photo and video recording. Lenses tend to be a secondary consideration.
Ninth He told CNN In a story published on Tuesday, she said she expects to launch her glasses within the next year. She has waiting list For the glasses on its website, but it did not say in which regions they would be available.
There’s a lot of engineering work that goes into the IXI’s autofocus glasses.
While the goal is to make these glasses an improvement over traditional bifocals and progressive lenses, IXI glasses likely won’t be a completely seamless experience.
“The middle part is the sharp area, and then there’s the edge where the liquid crystal stops and it’s not great to look at, but the central area is large enough that you can use it for reading,” CEO Nico Eden told CNN. “So, we have our own distortions that we introduce, but for the most part, they won’t be visible.”
IXI glasses won’t be cheap. “We will be on top of the glasses that already exist,” Eden said.
A representative for IXI did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for additional comment.
This type of technology is also being pursued by Japanese startups Elkeo and Fixion. Vixion already has a product that has adaptive lenses built into the middle of the lenses (not like standard glasses).
Challenges of making autofocus glasses
The benefits of autofocus lenses can begin with the wearer eliminating the need for multiple pairs of glasses, such as binoculars and progressives, and culminate in a more natural viewing experience.
But mastering this option presents a variety of challenges, said Minal Agarwal, an ophthalmologist Podcaster Who drives? Dr. Meenal Agarwal & Associates (Pickering, Ontario).
“The engineering must be reliable to make the lenses shift focus quickly, accurately, and invisible without any delay or blur,” she said. “Battery life and power may (make it difficult) to keep glasses lightweight and powered throughout the day. Packing optics, sensors and computing into frames that look like regular glasses will likely be a challenge, not to mention medical and regulatory approvals.”
What IXI and other companies are pursuing may seem revolutionary to those reading this story through the lower half of their glasses now. But Agarwal says the idea is not entirely new.
“There have been research models like that of Stanford University Auto focus glasses“There have also been other startup efforts and optical research into adaptive lenses and autofocus glasses,” she said. But there aren’t any consumer-ready lightweight eyeglasses on the market yet.”