Ixi develops glasses with autofocus

David Lee

8.1.2026

Translation: machine translated

Finnish company Ixi is working on a pair of glasses with autofocus. They are due to be launched on the market in 2027.

Ixi Eyewear Oy, as the company is called in full, has been developing a new type of technology for glasses since 2021. They are equipped with liquid crystal lenses to adjust the focus in real time. To do this, the eye is tracked with the help of photodiodes.

The advantages of such autofocus glasses are obvious. If I put on my reading glasses, I can see sharply at short distances, but only blurred in the distance. Varifocals solve this problem, but not optimally: the focal range depends on whether you look up or down. With autofocus, the entire field of vision could be utilised for every distance. Ixi claims that this also requires less familiarisation time.

The autofocus of the eye

The human eye naturally has an autofocus: a ring muscle compresses the lens, which changes the focal point. With age, however, the mobility of the lens decreases, meaning that the lens can no longer be compressed sufficiently for close-up vision. This is noticeable in everyday life from the age of 40. Reading glasses shift the focus so that near vision is sharp again. When looking into the distance, the ring muscle is completely relaxed and the lens expands to its maximum. The problem with reading glasses is that the lens has to be stretched even further, but humans have no muscle to do this. Therefore, the view into the distance inevitably remains blurred.

Promising project

Next year, Ixi wants to launch glasses with the new technology on the market. There is already a prototype that weighs just 22 grammes without lenses and looks like a normal pair of glasses. Impressive considering the fact that the electronics and battery are integrated.

According to Ixi, the glasses will first be available in Europe in «two or three» shapes and different sizes. According to Ixi, the prototypes are already being manufactured in the same way as in mass production, so the switch to high volumes should not be a problem.

The necessary money is also available. According to Techcrunch, Amazon and others have invested a total of 36.5 million US dollars in Ixi to drive the project forward. According to CNN, the figure is now over 40 million. Ixi has also announced a partnership with the Swiss eyewear manufacturer Optiswiss.

Open questions and challenges

Various tests are still required and questions remain unanswered. For example, the glasses must function reliably in order to be suitable for road traffic. In the event of a malfunction, the glasses should automatically fall into a safety mode in which vision is set to a long distance. It is unclear whether the autofocus will also work perfectly in the dark and how wide the field of vision will be. Last but not least, there is the question of the price. This will definitely be in the top price segment for glasses - Ixi has not yet provided any more precise details.

David Lee

Senior Editor

David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.ch

My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.

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