A future for four-eyes

Bifocals were invented in the 1700s and transitions came out in the 1990s, but that’s about it as far as innovations in corrective lenses go.

Or at least it feels like that sometimes.

Seeing is believing

Finnish startup IXI has raised $36.5m to develop the world’s first autofocus glasses, per GamesBeat.

• The glasses use “cutting-edge technology” to track the wearer’s eyes.
• The lenses adjust focus in real time — which is pretty crucial to wearing glasses — to help you see more clearly.

Better yet, the glasses actually look like glasses, not some kind of big nerd machine strapped to your face.

• IXI is prioritizing aesthetics with a “design-first mindset,” and envisions its glasses as a “tech-enhanced lifestyle accessory,” GamesBeat writes.

How does it work?

A close-up on its website shows that a lot of technological components go into these glasses.

• As for autofocus lenses in general, they use mirrors or algorithms to compare versions of the same image and determine how to focus it.
• Sometimes they point an infrared beam at the target.
• With IXI glasses, that will all likely have to be instantaneous and seamless.

If the tech works as intended, perhaps we could someday live in a utopian society where glasses are cool — and more functional than they were in the 1700s.