Spanish ophthalmic technology company IOT says it has become the first to 3D print personalized progressive lenses, using a process called Light-Form that forms a complete lens with a single flash of light in a few seconds. The company says lenses made this way are already on sale to consumers.
Unlike conventional additive approaches that build parts layer by layer, Light-Form cures the entire volume of the lens in one pass. IOT says the method also skips the generating and polishing steps on which conventional lens surfacing depends. The forming stage takes seconds; finishing then includes recovering unused resin, hardening the surface and mapping the lens.
How Light-Form works
Light-Form is based on stabilized frontal photopolymerization. According to IOT, light cures the full lens volume rather than gradually shaping it from a blank. The company says a new production method for personalized progressive lenses must reproduce the intended optical design precisely, not merely create a recognizable shape. It argues that Light-Form combines the design freedom of digital manufacturing with demanding optical requirements, allowing additive manufacturing to produce prescription lenses at commercial optical quality.
IOT also says the process is 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, according to the company. IOT says these figures cover the manufacturing stage only.
José Alonso, co-founder and CINO of IOT, said Light-Form shows 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.
Production chain and local manufacturing
IOT presents Light-Form 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, according to the company. Further ahead, IOT sees compact machines making custom lenses inside optical stores, putting production closer 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 added that 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, the company says this could mean organizing capacity around local demand 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. IOT adds that optical partners would still play a 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.
Other projects in the 3D printing sector have pursued digital manufacturing for vision correction. Luxexcel was an early example in prescription eyewear, building lenses layer by layer in a material jetting process and printing single-vision, freeform and multifocal progressive designs. It 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, a team at the University of Waterloo 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 a clinic wearing it after one visit. The work earned a Gold Medal at the Shanghai International Exhibition of Inventions in June 2026.
These projects indicate that additive manufacturing is moving into optical production. IOT says its Light-Form personalized progressive lenses are already reaching consumers.