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. The method forms a complete lens from a single flash of light in a few seconds, and IOT says lenses made this way are already on sale to consumers.
Unlike the layer-by-layer approach common in additive manufacturing, Light-Form cures the whole volume of the lens in one pass. IOT says the process also skips the generating and polishing steps on which conventional lens surfacing depends.
How the process works
The process is based on stabilized frontal photopolymerization. According to IOT, light cures the entire volume of the lens at once rather than shaping it gradually from a blank, with the forming stage taking 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 argues that a new production method for personalized progressive lenses must precisely reproduce the intended optical design, not merely produce a recognizable shape. The company says Light-Form combines the design freedom of digital manufacturing with these demanding optical requirements, so that additive manufacturing can produce prescription lenses at commercial optical quality. IOT adds that this could open up 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, try out new lens architectures and run more flexible manufacturing.
Resource use and production footprint
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 points out that these figures cover the manufacturing stage only.
Rethinking where lenses are made
IOT presents the technology as a way to redesign the production chain, not just a faster forming step. Larger installations could use several printing heads to increase output without taking up much floor space. Further ahead, the company sees compact machines making custom lenses inside optical stores, which would put production next to the customer and cut 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. We are working to translate these capabilities into practical manufacturing options.”
For optical laboratories, IOT says this could mean organizing capacity around demand in their area instead of relying only on centralized surfacing equipment. For wearers, the stated long-term benefit is faster access to lenses made for them. The company says optical partners would still play the central role in vision correction and customer service.
Smart glasses on the development roadmap
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 these devices thinner and lighter. The company also suggests that custom optical shapes could eventually be useful in virtual reality.
Additive manufacturing takes aim at conventional lens production
IOT is presenting Light-Form as a change to how lens production is organized, not only a new way to form lenses. The company plans to replace reliance on conventional surfacing infrastructure with production set up around local demand, and it sees in-store manufacturing as a possible way to bring personalized lenses closer to the wearer.
Other projects in the 3D printing sector also use digital manufacturing to make vision correction more personalized and on demand. Luxexcel was an early example in prescription eyewear: conventional prescription lenses tend to be manufactured through a process of around 30 steps, requiring large inventories and yielding high wastage. Luxexcel instead built lenses layer by layer in a material jetting process, and its platform could print single vision and freeform lenses and multifocal progressive designs. The company also embedded waveguides into prescription lenses for smart glasses, the same 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. These projects show additive manufacturing moving into optical production, while IOT says its personalized progressive lenses are already reaching consumers.