Innovation: zoom on lenses 2.0

Get an alert on your smartphone when your blood glucose is too high, or throw away your glasses forever, does that sound futuristic? And yet, these perspectives are less unlikely than they appear. They are even among the most promising projects in the optics industry, especially the connected lens. Discover the latest innovations of lenses 2.0!

The connected lens boom

What if the future was in connected lenses ? More and more brands are banking on this vein and developing products that meet different needs, whether medical or technological. How to explain this craze? Lenses offer new perspectives , simply because they are directly inserted into the eye . Practical to correct visual disturbances in an invisible and not restrictive way, but also to go further in the innovation. With bionic lenses, for example. In an increasingly close future, it will probably be possible to watch television directly from one's lenses, watch a movie, or even play a video game.

Lenses that heal

Presbyopia affects more than 20 million people in France, nearly one in three people. And if lenses could replace progressive lenses, not always very comfortable? Some manufacturers have managed to overcome the technical constraints that previously made the wearing of progressive lenses uncomfortable – including dehydration of the eyes. Today's progressive lenses also make the transition between different areas of the lens more harmonious. This is, for example, the case of the lenses proposed by Ophtalmic or Optical Center .

A very innovative project has also caught the eye of optics professionals this year. These are lenses for people with diabetes . Thanks to microchips and sensors inside, these lenses should be able, by 2020, to directly measure patients' blood glucose levels in their tear ducts. In case of abnormal glucose levels, they would be notified via their smartphone, tablet, or computer, through a wireless connection. A real revolution for people with diabetes, both in terms of medical care and comfort. This project is developed by Google in partnership with Alcon , a subsidiary of Novartis .

Soon bionic lenses?

Beyond the care of visual disturbances, some brands are currently working on lenses that could significantly improve vision , making it almost perfect. And this, whatever the age and the state of the eyes of the person. For that, it would implant in his eye a bionic lens , which would replace the deteriorated lens. An operation that would be completely painless. No need, then, to wear glasses or even corrective lenses! This innovation is developed by Ocumetics laboratories. If clinical trials go well, these bionic lenses should be available by 2017.

And the innovation in lenses is not about to stop … German scientists have even designed high-performance lenses, specially designed for robots, whose visual acuity inspired by the eagles!