Finnish eyewear company IXI is gearing up to launch smart glasses that look just like ordinary spectacles, but are able to “autofocus” based on the perceived needs of the wearer.

The glasses contain eye-tracking sensors as well as liquid crystals in the lenses, which are used to change the prescription instantaneously. The result, according to the company, is an improvement on current bifocal or varifocal lenses, both of which are meant for people who need assistance seeing both far and close distances, but come with drawbacks.

Bifocal lenses, whose invention is widely credited to Benjamin Franklin in the late 18th century, are split into two areas of different magnification, with the main area usually addressing long distance vision and a smaller cutout usually addressing reading or near vision.

A more recent upgrade to that classic design is the varifocal lens from the 1960s, which offers a similar solution but has a smooth, rather than abrupt, transition between the areas of magnification, aiming for a more seamless vision.

Both require the user to look through the correct part of the lens to focus on objects near or far, and while varifocals are credited with a smoother user experience, they also cause distortions in peripheral vision and require an adaptation period, on top of being several times more expensive than regular or bifocal lenses.

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. “There is far sight, intermediate and short distance, and you can’t seamlessly blend these lenses. 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 — as you were used to when you were slightly younger,” Eden explained, referring to people who had glasses for distance vision from their teens or early adulthood, before starting to also need reading glasses, like most people as they get older.

The autofocus glasses will launch within the next year and will cost more than regular ones. They also weigh roughly the same, with one of the latest prototypes weighing just 22 grams (0.78 ounces).

Eiden admits the new glasses won’t come without drawbacks. “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.

芬兰眼镜公司IXI正计划推出一款外形与普通眼镜无异但能够根据佩戴者需求 “自动对焦” 的智能眼镜。这款眼镜内置眼球追踪传感器，镜片中的液晶材料可即时改变屈光度。该公司表示，这种设计改良了传统的双光眼镜和渐进镜片— 两者皆适用于需要同时矫正远视力和近视力的群体，但都存在明显缺陷。

双光眼镜的发明普遍归功于18世纪末的本杰明·富兰克林。其镜片划分为两个不同放大区域：主区域通常用于矫正远视力，较小的切割区域则用于阅读或近距视物。上世纪60年代问世的渐进镜片是对这一经典设计的升级，它通过平滑（而非突变）的屈光度过渡实现类似功能，旨在提供更无缝的视觉体验。

两种镜片都需要使用者通过镜片特定区域观察远近物体。虽然渐进镜片的使用体验更为流畅，但除了价格是普通或双光镜片的数倍之外，还会导致周边视觉失真，且需要较长的适应期。

IXI通过动态镜片技术打破了固定屈光区域的限制。IXI首席执行官尼科·艾登表示，现代渐进镜片之所以存在狭窄的视野通道，是因为它们本质上混合了三种不同镜片，远距、中距和近距离视觉无法无缝融合，因此会产生失真区域，镜片两侧对使用者基本无用，人们必须刻意调整视线穿过特定视野通道。

艾登指出，IXI眼镜将提供更大的近距离 “阅读区域”（虽然仍未覆盖整个镜片），并能根据用户标准验光数据将其定位在 “更优化的位置” 。但他补充道，最大优势在于阅读区域在多数时间会自动消失，使整个镜片恢复为远距矫正状态。

“在远视力矫正方面，我们的产品与传统渐进镜片存在天壤之别，” 艾登解释道。“使用渐进镜片时必须通过镜片顶部看远物，而我们的镜片整个区域都可用于远距观察 — 就像人们稍微年轻些时习惯的那样。” 这里他指的是那些从青少年或成年早期就佩戴远视眼镜，随着年龄增长逐渐需要阅读辅助镜片的大多数人群。

这款自动对焦眼镜将在明年内上市，售价将高于普通眼镜。产品重量也与常规眼镜大致相当，最新原型机重量仅22克 (约0.78盎司)。

艾登承认新产品并非完美无缺：“这将是又一款需要充电的产品。” 尽管充电接口采用磁性设计并巧妙隐藏在镜腿区域，但仍需夜间充电。

(Translated by DeepSeek)