Spanish ophthalmic technology company IOT says it has become the first to 3D print personalized progressive lenses. Its Light-Form Technology forms a complete lens with a single flash of light in a few seconds, and IOT says lenses made this way are already on sale to consumers. The process does not build a lens layer by layer and skips the generating and polishing steps used in conventional surfacing.
A single exposure, then finishing
Light-Form is based on stabilized frontal photopolymerization. Instead of shaping a lens gradually from a blank, the process cures the entire lens volume in one pass; that forming stage takes seconds. Finishing then follows: unused resin is recovered to limit waste, the surface is hardened, and the lens is mapped.
IOT says a production method for personalized progressive lenses must reproduce the intended optical design precisely, not just create a recognizable shape. According to the company, Light-Form combines the design freedom of digital manufacturing with those optical requirements, allowing additive manufacturing to produce prescription lenses at commercial optical quality. IOT adds that the approach could open more options for future lens architectures and individualized designs.
Resource and production claims
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 says these figures cover the manufacturing stage only.
“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 Light-Form as a way to redesign the production chain, not simply a faster forming step. 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 closer to the customer and reducing the need to hold stock.
“The value lies in rethinking the production workflow,” said Carolina Gago, COO of IOT. 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, this could mean organizing capacity around local demand rather than 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 a central role in vision correction and customer service.
Beyond 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.
Additive manufacturing and lens production
Other projects show additive manufacturing moving into optical production. Luxexcel built prescription lenses layer by layer in a material jetting process, offering single-vision, freeform and multifocal progressive designs, and embedded waveguides into lenses for smart glasses. Meta later acquired Luxexcel as part of its AR technology efforts. More recently, a University of Waterloo team 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.
IOT says its Light-Form personalized progressive lenses are already reaching consumers, as additive manufacturing takes aim at conventional lens production.