Autofocusing Smart Glasses With Eye Tracking Tech Could Make Bifocals Obsolete

Exciting news for those enough who are 40+ and spend too much time in front of a computer screen: a Finnish startup called IXI is promising to end the era of clunky bifocals and the ‘head-tilt’ struggle of progressive lenses, replacing them with a pair of glasses that focus as naturally as the human eye using a combination of infrared eye tracking and liquid crystal-transparent indium tin oxide glasses

Went to #opticians last week for eye test and checkup, was slightly cursing myself for driving short distance but it was cold and pissing down with rain. Had to fight cursed #UI of parking machine to get my pay and display ticket (took several tries, but I refuse to download yet another app)

Thankfully my distant #eyesight is no worse than 2 years ago (although my #presbyopia has increased slightly to +1,50) - managed to unearth a #vuln in an #OCT scanner as I am very nearsighted - the level of this overflowed the software, optician had to use a different one!

Was shown all the pictures of the inside of my eye/optic nerve etc, all was good there (considering my age and near sight)

Got some #ramen from one of the Asian shops but didn't hang around long in town due to #weather (brr!)

Listening to Mary Roach on Replacing Parts of Our Bodies on the Mindscape #podcast was very interesting.

A thing I learned (and read up): you may be able to wear one contact lens for #myopia and one for #presbyopia (the thing when you get older and need reading glasses) in different eyes and your brain can make use of it. I will surely test this!

Be warned: There is quite graphic talk about surgery and body parts.

https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/09/15/328-mary-roach-on-replacing-parts-of-our-bodies/

Eye Drops Offer Non-Surgical Alternative for Age-Related Vision Loss

As people age, many experience presbyopia, a condition that makes it difficult to read up close. Traditionally, reading glasses have been the go-to solution, but new research presents a potentially better option: eye drops. In a study conducted on 766 patients, researchers tested a combination of pi... [More info]

FDA approves Vizz eye drops, offering a new non-surgical option for presbyopia, the age related loss of near vision. Developed by Lenz Therapeutics, Vizz works within 30 minutes, lasts up to 10 hours, and showed no serious side effects in trials spanning 30,000+ treatment days. U.S. rollout begins late 2025. 🤓

#health #vision #eyecare #medicine #fda #presbyopia #science

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-fda-vizz-eye-vision-adults.html

What do Vuity (a drop for presbyopia aka near vision loss) and Ortho-K night lenses for myopia have in common?

Turns out—they can both help with glare and halos at night.

Sometimes I adjust the OrthoK lens design.
Other times, I use Vuity to shrink the pupil by 1–2mm.

Different tools, same goal: clearer night vision. 🌙✨
#myopiatreatment #myopiamanagement#myopiamanagement #OrthoK #Vuity #NightVision #MyopiaControl #Presbyopia #OptometristLife

In which it is suggested that #Novartis pulled the plug on a trial of eyedrops that could cure age-related far sightedness (#presbyopia) because other pharmaceutical firms sought approval for eyedrops that can only mitigate it, by distorting the way your eye focuses, for a day at a time.

https://pharmaphorum.com/news/novartis-drops-presbyopia-drug-acquired-with-encore-vision

What's the point in treating an ailment that hinders millions around the globe if you can create a revenue stream of dependency by alleviating it only for a day at a time instead? 🙃

A question relating to VR use for people with an optical prescription has had me realise that I might have missed the time window for when I'd have been able to enjoy it.

I've had myopia, increasingly so, since age ~10.

For the past 5+ years I've also had presbyopia (where your eye's lenses stiffen as you age, reducing your focal range).

I mostly wear my "intermediate" glasses around home, as I spend most of my time at the computer. With these I can comfortably focus from around 20cm away up to maybe 2 metres.

I have a pair of varifocals as well for "out and about". They do *not* work for close up other than something I'm holding low in my vision because I have to be looking out the very bottom of the lenses, and that would mean tilting my head back uncomfortably for viewing a screen around stretch-out-arm fingertip distance away.

So, any VR is going to have a mix of close up and distance things rendered, yes ? I'm only going to be able to focus on some of that. And given it's whole-scene, and moving my head moves the entire point of view, varifocals wouldn't help. There's no sort of correction that would address this.

So, it's likely a waste of time me even thinking about VR now.

#vr #presbyopia #myopia #BeingOldSucks