Finnish eyewear company IXI is preparing to launch smart glasses that look like regular spectacles but can automatically fine-tune their focus to match what the wearer needs.
IXI Eyewear is developing autofocus glasses that could replace traditional progressive and bifocal lenses. Marketed as a luxury eyewear product, IXI smart glasses use a camera-less eye-tracking system and liquid-crystal lenses to automatically adjust focus as you look at different things. The company plans to introduce them to consumers seeking high-end options through opticians, possibly as soon as next year, after showcasing them at CES 2026.
Key Features and Technology
Auto Focus Technology: LEDs and photodiodes around the lenses emit invisible infrared light. This system tracks eye movements and instantly adjusts the liquid crystal lenses for sharp focus, whether near or far.
Smooth Shift: Unlike progressive or bifocal lenses, IXI glasses instantly shift between near and distance vision without distortion or eye repositioning.
Design and weight: The smart lenses look like regular eyewear and weigh about 22 grams lighter than AR smart glasses and suitable for daily use.
Power efficiency: The infrared eye-tracking system consumes only 4 milliwatts, enabling full-day use on a single charge.
Supplementary data: Built-in sensors track things like eye strain, how often you blink, and your posture. You can monitor this data using a companion app. In the future, this information could help the glasses automatically adjust your prescription throughout the day for greater vision support.
Fail Safe Mode: If the battery dies, the glasses still function as regular prescription glasses.
Availability
Although IXI shared insights from its CES demo, the glasses aren't yet available. Targeted at those seeking exclusivity and advanced technology, the company is working on medical certifications and scaling production with Swiss lens maker Optiswiss. Once ready, the glasses will be sold through opticians as a high-end luxury product for customers who value innovation and style.
You can join the waiting list on the IXI eyewear website for launch updates.
IXI’s Autofocus Smart Glasses are nearly prepared to replace their multifocal counterparts.
Even as new smart glasses and face-based wearables keep appearing at CES, regular glasses have remained mostly unchanged for hundreds of years. The last big change was progressive multifocals, which blended near- and far-sighted lenses and emerged in the 1950s. So, it's understandable that IXI, a company that makes autofocus glasses, wants to update its glasses.
After recently announcing a 22g (0.7oz) prototype frame, the startup is here in Las Vegas to show off working prototypes of its lenses, a key element of its autofocus glasses. Which could be a major innovation?
IXI glasses are made for people with age-related farsightedness, which affects many people over 45. The glasses use eye tracking without a camera and have liquid-crystal lenses that automatically adjust when they detect a change in your focus, so you don't need two separate prescriptions like bifocals or multifocals. The eye excises lenses and switches between them on its own. Importantly, the frames are lightweight and look like regular glasses, similar to most modern smart glasses.
IXI glasses are made for people with age-related farsightedness, which affects many people over 45. The glasses use eye tracking without a camera and have liquid-crystal lenses that automatically adjust when they detect a change in your focus, so you don't need two separate prescriptions like bifocals or multifocals. IXI’s lenses switch between them on their own. Importantly, the frames are lightweight and look like regular glasses, similar to most modern smart glasses.
CEO and co-founder Niko Eiden showed off a row of prototype frames and lenses, explaining how autofocus lenses work in two main parts. First, IXI glasses track your eye movements using LEDs and photodiodes placed around the edges of the lenses. LEDs send out invisible infrared light, which bounces off your eyes. The system then measures the reflection to detect small eye movements and how your eyes come together when you focus on something nearby.
By using infrared and only a few analog channels, the system consumes much less power than camera-driven systems, which must process millions of pixels many times per second. IXI’s system tracks not just eye movements but also blinking and where you are looking, all while using just 4 milliwatts of power, ensuring you don't have to worry about battery life and comfort.
Most of the technology, such as memory sensors, electronics, and eye trackers, is built into the front of the glasses and into the parts of the arms near the hinges. The IXI prototype uses batteries about the same size as those in AirPods, which helps show how compact the technology is. The charging port is built into the left arm hinge, so you can't wear the glasses while they're charging. IXI says one charge should last all day.
The prototype frames I saw this week appear as heavy as my usual thick glasses, even though these are early versions. IXI's first frames would fit right in with other regular glasses and glasses arms to adjust for different face shapes. Apparently, when the testing expanded from Finland to the UK, British faces were a little harsher when talking to me, a Brit.
Eiden demonstrated prototype lenses made of liquid crystal and a transparent ITO layer. Despite these layers, the lenses stay very thin and switch almost instantly to a prescription lens. Their slim profile fits existing frames, and they can correct cylindrical astigmatism.
Auto-focus lenses eliminate the need for multiple lens types, such as bifocals and progressives, by automatically adjusting to your vision needs. If the power fails, they function as regular prescription lenses. Beyond vision of eye exercises, sensors monitor eye health and behavior, providing feedback on dry eyes, attentiveness, and posture. All this data is displayed in the comparison app, emphasizing the glasses' multi-functional health benefits.
Future versions could further personalize vision correction by automatically adjusting prescriptions throughout the day as your eyesight changes, such as providing stronger corrections when your eyes tire, offering benefits beyond the first generation.
IXI is preparing to launch these smart glasses with manufacturing handled by Swiss lens maker Optiswiss. The product targets the high-end luxury market and will be sold through existing opticians. Medical certification and production setup are ongoing, and the company plans to launch the first pair next year.
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