Spanish ophthalmic technology company IOT says it has become the first to 3D print personalized progressive lenses, using a process it calls Light-Form Technology that forms a complete lens from a single flash of light in a matter of seconds. According to the company, lenses produced this way are already on sale to consumers.
The approach departs from both conventional surfacing and established additive methods: there is no layer-by-layer build, and the lens skips the generating and polishing steps on which conventional production depends.
Curing the whole volume at once
Light-Form is based on stabilized frontal photopolymerization. Rather than shaping a lens gradually out of a blank, the process cures the entire volume of the lens in a single pass, a forming stage that IOT says takes seconds. Several finishing steps follow before a lens is complete: unused resin is recovered to limit waste, the surface is hardened and the lens is mapped.
IOT also claims the method is considerably lighter on resources than traditional lens manufacturing. Compared with conventional methods, it says the process uses no water, requires 90% less energy and produces 76% less waste. The company notes that these figures cover the manufacturing stage only.
Optical precision as the bar
According to IOT, a new production method for personalized progressive lenses must faithfully reproduce the intended optical design rather than merely produce a recognizable shape. The company argues that Light-Form combines the design freedom of digital manufacturing with these demanding optical requirements, allowing additive manufacturing to deliver prescription lenses at commercial optical quality. It adds that the method opens more options for future lens architectures and individualized solutions.
“Light-Form demonstrates how scientific research can change the way ophthalmic lenses are made,” said José Alonso, co-founder and CINO of IOT. He added that pairing optical precision with a new production method could help optical partners create personalized products, test new lens architectures and run more flexible manufacturing.
Rethinking where lenses are made
IOT presents the technology as a way to redesign the production chain, not simply a faster forming step. Larger installations could run several printing heads to raise output without consuming much floor space. Further ahead, the company envisions compact machines producing custom lenses inside optical stores, placing production next to the customer and reducing the need to hold stock.
“The value lies in rethinking the production workflow,” said Carolina Gago, COO of IOT. “Resin recovery and lower water and energy requirements address how resources are used, while compact equipment could support production closer to consumers.”
For optical laboratories, that could mean organizing capacity around local demand instead of relying solely on centralized surfacing equipment. For wearers, IOT says the long-term benefit is faster access to lenses made for them, while optical partners would retain the central role in vision correction and customer service.
Smart glasses on the roadmap
IOT is also looking beyond conventional spectacles. One option under development is printing prescription optics directly onto the waveguides and flat substrates used in smart glasses and augmented reality headsets, which could make such devices thinner and lighter. The company suggests custom optical shapes could eventually be useful in virtual reality as well.
A wider move into optical production
Other projects in the 3D printing sector are pursuing similar goals. Luxexcel was an early example in prescription eyewear: conventional lenses tend to be made through roughly 30 steps, requiring large inventories and producing high wastage, whereas Luxexcel built lenses layer by layer in a material jetting process, printing single vision, freeform and multifocal progressive designs and embedding waveguides into prescription lenses for smart glasses. Meta later acquired the company as part of its AR technology efforts.
More recently, the approach has moved into point-of-care contact lenses. A team at the University of Waterloo has developed a system that 3D prints custom contact lenses in roughly 20 minutes, raising the prospect that a patient could be measured, have a lens designed and leave wearing it after a single clinic visit. The work earned a Gold Medal at the Shanghai International Exhibition of Inventions in June 2026.
IOT says its personalized progressive lenses are already reaching consumers, positioning additive manufacturing as a production route for optical goods rather than only a prototyping tool.