2021 is all about focusing on better days ahead, so what better way to equip yourself for the future than indulging in the latest lens technology. 

This could be the year that prescription smart glasses become the next staple in wearable tech. Lens makers are also taking advantage of digital manufacturing techniques to deliver the most superior products we’ve ever seen, or rather, will use to see the world around us.

GET SMART 

First, it was the smartphone. Then it was the smartwatch. Now smart glasses are set to make their mark on wearable tech. 

Amazon already has some that work with digital assistant Alexa, while Apple and Facebook are expected to release their own frames sometime later this year. 

Luxexcel enables smart glasses manufacturers to make a unique device with the patient’s customized prescription, resulting in a better visual experience for the user. 

“The benefit for end-users is that they no longer need to wear their prescription glasses underneath their smart eyewear goggles. They can now experience both corrective vision and augmented reality in one single product,” says Fabio Esposito, chief executive officer at Luxexcel.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 

Bollé is launching the most technologically advanced high-contrast lens in the marketplace with the introduction of Volt +, the industry’s first lens ever developed using artificial intelligence.

“We’ve set high standards to be the innovation and technology leader in the development and creation of sports performance eyewear and helmets,” said Tove Fritzell, Bollé’s director of product & innovation 

Using AI, Bollé was able to evaluate 20 million different lens formula combinations to settle on an incomparable colour experience and put together the perfect blend of pigments for the transition curve.

DIGITAL CUSTOMIZATION 

Plastic Plus is offering its most customizable lens yet with Free-Form Single Vision by IoT. 

“IOT is the leader in free-form technology worldwide and they’ve got excellent power algorithms and most importantly, the lenses simply just work,” says Plastic Plus’s vice-president Jason Faibish. 

These free-form lenses are not only available with any AR coating but also use Digital Ray Path technology to produce the best vision possible, no matter the prescription. 

Faibish says ECPs are seeing much higher patient retention with the free-form design. 

“Patients are seeing better because they are getting a personalized design for single vision as opposed to using a stock lens or just grinding a conventional lens,” says Faibish. “Every individual prescription has its own unique design.”

THE GREAT GEN8 

New Transitions Signature GEN 8 lenses deliver a new frontier of performance to offer one of the best photochromic lenses available.

“Consumers want high overall performance. UV and blue light protection, responsiveness, darkness, full indoor clarity and long-lasting quality are all priorities,” says Arnaud Rajchenbach, marketing manager at Transitions. 

Additionally, Transitions XTRActive Polarized lenses will begin rolling out in Canada and the U.S. in the first quarter of this year. The product will expand the Transitions XTRActive product line with the additional benefit of polarization. 

The unique polarization technology reduces glare outdoors, providing sharper vision, a larger field of view and bright, vivid colours.

FASTER FADEBACKS 

In 2015, Hoya introduced the world to Sensity photochromic lenses, but they went back to the lab, improved and the pushed technology even further and now we have Sensity 2. 

The latest generation of these lenses are packed with superior features including a fade-back speed that’s almost twice as fast.

Sensity 2 rapidly darkens to an attractive sun lens tint and then fades back faster than ever before, all while offering 100 percent UV protection. 

It’s also a great accessory to compliment all climates, seasons and lifestyles.

By David Goldberg