Spanish ophthalmic technology company IOT says it is the first company to 3D print personalized progressive lenses. Its Light-Form process uses a single flash of light to form a lens in a few seconds, and IOT says lenses made this way are already on sale to consumers.
Unlike the layer-by-layer approach used in many additive manufacturing processes, Light-Form does not build a lens from successive slices. It also avoids the generating and polishing steps on which conventional lens surfacing relies, according to the company.
A single flash instead of layers
IOT describes the process as stabilized frontal photopolymerization. A light exposure cures the entire volume of the lens in one pass rather than gradually shaping it from a blank. The forming stage takes seconds, but the company says several finishing steps follow before a lens is complete: unused resin is recovered to limit waste, the lens surface is hardened, and the lens is mapped.
The company argues that a new production method for personalized progressive lenses must do more than create a recognizable shape. It must reproduce the intended optical design precisely. IOT says Light-Form combines the design freedom of digital manufacturing with these optical requirements, allowing additive manufacturing to produce prescription lenses at commercial optical quality. The company also says the approach could open more options for future lens architectures and individualized solutions.
José Alonso, co-founder and CINO of IOT, said Light-Form demonstrates how scientific research can change the way ophthalmic lenses are made. He added that combining optical precision with a new production method could help optical partners create personalized products, test new lens architectures and run more flexible manufacturing.
Resource claims cover manufacturing only
IOT says the method is much lighter on resources than traditional lens production. Compared with conventional methods, it uses no water in manufacturing, needs 90% less energy and produces 76% less waste. The company states that these figures cover the manufacturing stage only.
The resource case is tied to both the forming step and the wider workflow. IOT says resin recovery helps limit waste, while lower water and energy requirements address how resources are used. The company is presenting these claims as part of a production redesign rather than as a faster forming step alone.
Production closer to the customer
IOT sees the technology as a way to reorganize the production chain. Larger installations could use several printing heads to raise output without taking up much floor space. Further ahead, the company envisions compact machines making custom lenses inside optical stores, putting production next to the customer and reducing the need to hold stock.
Carolina Gago, COO of IOT, said the value lies in rethinking the production workflow. She said resin recovery and lower water and energy requirements address how resources are used, while compact equipment could support production closer to consumers. IOT says it is working to translate these capabilities into practical manufacturing options.
For optical laboratories, that could mean organizing capacity around demand in their area instead of relying only on centralized surfacing equipment. For wearers, IOT says the long-term benefit would be faster access to lenses made for them. The company says optical partners would still play the central role in vision correction and customer service.
Beyond conventional spectacles
IOT is also looking beyond conventional spectacles. One option under development is printing prescription optics directly onto waveguides and flat substrates used in smart glasses and augmented reality headsets, which could make those devices thinner and lighter. The company also suggests that custom optical shapes could eventually be useful in virtual reality.
The company is not alone in applying additive manufacturing to optical production. Luxexcel was an early example in prescription eyewear. Conventional prescription lenses tend to be manufactured through a process of around 30 steps, which requires large inventories and yields high wastage. Luxexcel instead built lenses layer by layer in a material jetting process, and its platform could print single-vision and freeform lenses as well as multifocal progressive designs. It also embedded waveguides into prescription lenses for smart glasses, a direction IOT is now exploring. Meta later acquired Luxexcel 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 walk out wearing it after one clinic visit. The work earned a Gold Medal at the Shanghai International Exhibition of Inventions in June 2026.
IOT says its Light-Form personalized progressive lenses are already reaching consumers. The broader question is whether the process can move from a demonstrated manufacturing method to a practical, distributed production model while meeting the optical and operational standards of the eyewear industry.