a start-up designs glasses that adapt to almost all vision problems

Engineers have just developed glasses that focus on their own depending on where you look and which constantly adapt to changes in your vision. But they do not yet replace classic models.

Do ophthalmologists have anything to worry about? There are now universal glasses that work a bit like an autofocus camera. That is to say, they will focus on themselves depending on where you look. To do this, they have a small sensor on the front (between the two eyes), which will measure the distance between your head and what you are looking at. The glasses will then automatically adjust the focal length of the lenses. So, even if your eyesight changes, there will be no need to change your glasses, they will constantly adapt.

This is a principle that we have been working on for years. But until now, that required wearing a huge helmet with two big camera lenses. But engineers from the Japanese start-up Vixion have managed to miniaturize the system into a “socially acceptable” format. These glasses look like a sort of fairly thin headband that covers both eyes. A bit like the superhero Cyclops from X-Men or Geordi La Forge from Star Trek. So quite a futuristic look.

Please note, this technology does not correct all vision problems. If you have an eye disease like Macular degeneration (AMD) or glaucoma, it won’t work. But if it’s a problem with focusing, because you are presbyopic, myopic, astigmatic or a mixture of the three, the system works. You will simply have to start by adjusting the glasses to your vision with a small dial. This allows the correction to be adjusted as an ophthalmologist would do.

High cost and reduced field of vision

There is also a big flaw. As the image is corrected by two small lenses, the field of vision is extremely reduced. Like binoculars, we will have no peripheral vision. Therefore impossible, for example, to drive with it. This device cannot yet replace traditional glasses. Ophthalmologists are still needed, but this is the first time this type of glasses has come out of laboratories. They should be marketed in the spring. Like any new technology, it will cost quite expensive, around 600 euros. Let’s hope that the price drops and above all, that we manage, one day, to broaden their field of vision.