Finnish Startup IXI Plans New Autofocusing Eyeglasses (cnn.com)
- Reference: 0180564434
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/11/214203/finnish-startup-ixi-plans-new-autofocusing-eyeglasses
- Source link: https://www.cnn.com/science/autofocus-glasses-ixi-change-lenses-spc
> Finland-based [2]IXI Eyewear has raised more than $40 million from investors, including Amazon, to build glasses with adaptive lenses that could dynamically autofocus based on where the person wearing them is looking. In late 2025, the company said it had developed a glasses prototype that weighs just 22 grams. It includes embedded sensors aimed at the wearer's eyes and liquid crystal lenses that respond accordingly. According to the company, the autofocus is "powered by technology hidden within the frame that tracks eye movements and adjusts focus instantly — whether you're looking near or far..."
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> iXI [3]told CNN in a story published on Tuesday that it expects to launch its glasses within the next year. It has [4]a waitlist for the glasses on its website, but has not said in what regions they'll be available...
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> This type of technology is also being pursued by Japanese startups [5]Elcyo and [6]Vixion . Vixion already has a product with adaptive lenses embedded in the middle of the lenses (they do not resemble standard glasses).
CNET spoke to optometrist Meenal Agarwal, who pointed out that besides startup efforts, there have also been research prototypes like Stanford's [7]autofocal glasses . "But none have consumer-ready, lightweight glasses in the market yet."
CNN [8]reports on the 75-person company's product, noting that "By using a dynamic lens, IXI does away with fixed magnification areas."
> "Modern varifocals have this narrow viewing channel because they're mixing basically three different lenses," said Niko Eiden, CEO of IXI... So, there are areas of distortion, the sides of the lenses are quite useless for the user, and then you really have to manage which part of this viewing channel you're looking at." The IXI glasses, Eiden said, will have a much larger "reading" area for close-up vision — although still not as large as the entire lens — and it will also be positioned "in a more optimal place," based on the user's standard eye exam. But the biggest plus, Eiden added, is that most of the time, the reading area simply disappears, leaving the main prescription for long distance on the entire lens. "For seeing far, the difference is really striking, because with varifocals you have to look at the top part of the lens in order to see far. With ours, you have the full lens area to see far..."
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> The new glasses won't come without drawbacks, Eiden admits: "This will be yet another product that you need to charge," he said. Although the charging port is magnetic and cleverly hidden in the temple area, overnight charging will be required... Another limitation is that more testing is required to make the glasses safe for driving, Eiden said, adding that in case of a malfunction of the electronics or the liquid crystal area, the glasses are equipped with a failsafe mode that shuts them down to the base state of the main lens, which would usually be distance vision, without creating any visual disturbances.
[1] https://www.cnet.com/health/personal-care/ixi-eyewear-smart-glasses-autofocus-lenses/
[2] https://ixieyewear.com/
[3] https://www.cnn.com/science/autofocus-glasses-ixi-change-lenses-spc
[4] https://ixieyewear.com/
[5] https://en.elcyo.com/products
[6] https://vixion.jp/vixion01s/?wovn=en
[7] https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aav6187
[8] https://www.cnn.com/science/autofocus-glasses-ixi-change-lenses-spc
I have no problem at all with my varifocals (Score:1)
Certainly no problems that could be fixed by making them more expensive, heavier, laggy, unpredictable and subject to batteries going flat.
Re: (Score:2)
There you go, thinking selfishly about yourself again. What about the poor venture capitalists who've invested millions into these companies, hoping to get richer? What about poor Amazon? Can you not spend a few seconds to think about their need for more money?
Re: (Score:3)
It is mentioned in the summary. The stated difference is the Vixion product "do[es] not resemble standard glasses".
IANAO (optometrist), but... (Score:2)
I'd be incredibly worried about using a vision device that automatically tries to adapt the focus for me. How long would it take until the user became heavily dependent on this device? Would they be increasingly screwed if they tried to navigate the world without them?
I do wear glasses to read. I don't think I'd want these adaptive glasses.
Re: (Score:3)
I wear trifocals, I'd be very interested. Failing to distance vision would not be a problem while driving. You are supposed to be looking out the window anyway. The dashboard is at the medium distance lens, the only thing at reading distance is the steering wheel and it's not interesting.
Presbyopia is a pain in the ass and at present the only cure is to rip the lense out and put in a multifocal and hope for the best.
How does it know? (Score:2)
"powered by technology hidden within the frame that tracks eye movements and adjusts focus instantly — whether you're looking near or far..."
If you're reading something, it will be able to figure out the distance and adjust accordingly. But if you're in let's say Colorado and looking across the plains to the Rockies, how does it know if you're looking at the Rockies or the plain? Or maybe a herd of pronghorn grazing on the plain? What if you're looking into the viewfinder of a camera? You want the
Re: (Score:2)
> But if you're in let's say Colorado and looking across the plains to the Rockies, how does it know if you're looking at the Rockies or the plain? Or maybe a herd of pronghorn grazing on the plain?
I suspect it would do what photographers do when they want a deep range of focus - take advantage of [1]hyperfocal distance [wikipedia.org]. But standard eyeglasses already do this now.
> What if you're looking into the viewfinder of a camera?
That's an interesting question. Or, for that matter - what if you're looking through a window that is partially obscured / frosted / has decorations on it?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocal_distance
Re: (Score:2)
The distance lense on my trifocals works for everything past three feet out. The reading lens is good from 6 inches to about 16 inches, the middle lens is from 16 inches to the three feet including the desktop computer monitor.
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The mountains and the plain are at the same focal distance. It's not linear. A young person's perfectly functioning biological eyeball naturally relaxes to a focus of about 6 m (20 ft) which is fine for anything that far or further.
Yah but (Score:2, Interesting)
> Another limitation is that more testing is required to make the glasses safe for driving
How will testing help? When driving it helps to simultaneously see far clearly and the dashboard instruments clearly. If I’m understanding correctly, the glasses won’t support that.
Re: (Score:3)
> If this was a product from a established company it would just be stupid.
Though the competing product Vixion was created by an established company, Hoya (Japanese multinational, 35000 employees). The product started development in 2015 and sells in Japan since 2018. The company was spun off in 2021. It is available from over 50 locations across Japan from the chains Yodobashi Camera, and Bic Camera. [1]https://vixion.jp/company/?wov... [vixion.jp]
[1] https://vixion.jp/company/?wovn=en#company_history
Re: Yah but (Score:2)
In theory if they can focus only parts of the lenses no reason they couldn't achieve that. I wonder if you can just extrapolate from an eye exam to focus further afield. I was under the impresssion the eye exams only accounted for a fixed distance.
Re:Yah but (Score:4, Informative)
If you can simultaneously focus on both far and near objects, you are definitely not human. That's not how eyes work at all.
Re: (Score:2)
>> Another limitation is that more testing is required to make the glasses safe for driving
> How will testing help? When driving it helps to simultaneously see far clearly and the dashboard instruments clearly. If I’m understanding correctly, the glasses won’t support that.
The tracking mechanism will estimate the focal distance needed for what you're looking at, whether that be the dashboard or the road. The testing is needed to (1) quantify the estimation error and associated conditional probabilities and (2) the safety of the fail-safe fallback in the case of car driving. The basic design is already there. That's why it's mainly the testing that is needed, especially across all the different prescriptions, faces, environments, and uses cases.
Re: (Score:2)
I figure they reckon you don't need to see the dashboard that badly (Teslas dont even have dashboards).. and besides usually the speed is shown big and clearly enough that you can ascertain your speed or when something important like a tire pressure warning or check engine appears. I mean if you're that frigging blind you shouldn't be driving. Nothing important on any car display requires perfect version. Secondarily, what's the chances your glasses fail AND you get a tire pressure warning or something like