IOT Brings Light-Printed Personalized Progressive Lenses to Consumers-3DPTimes

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IOT Brings Light-Printed Personalized Progressive Lenses to Consumers

November 4, 2026 Applications 3DPTimes Editors | Sources: IOT, October 29, 2026; Light-Form technology website 8

Light-Form uses a single exposure to form a lens in seconds, but resin recovery, surface treatment and optical mapping remain part of the production workflow.

Light-Form technology during optical lens production, supplied with IOT’s October 29, 2026 announcement. Image: IOT / PR Newswire.

A new route to prescription-lens manufacturing

IOT says its Light-Form process is bringing personalized progressive lenses made through light-based additive manufacturing to consumers. The Spanish ophthalmic technology company described the development in an October 29, 2026 announcement, claiming a world first for this lens category. That priority claim is attributed to IOT and has not been independently verified by 3DPTimes.

The distinction from conventional lens surfacing is the forming step. IOT identifies the underlying method as stabilized frontal photopolymerization: a single exposure creates the lens volume, rather than constructing it through successive printed layers or generating its shape from a conventional blank.

The company says formation takes seconds. It also specifies subsequent resin recovery, surface hardening and lens mapping. A lens formed quickly is therefore not the same as an entire prescription-lens order completed in seconds.

Optical quality and resource claims need clear boundaries

For 3DPTimes, the manufacturing significance lies in reproducing the intended optical design, not simply creating a transparent object of the right general shape. A useful production comparison would consider finished-lens conformity, repeatability, yield and the time spent on all finishing and inspection steps.

IOT reports no manufacturing water consumption, 90% lower energy use and 76% less waste than conventional methods. The company limits these figures to manufacturing. They should not be presented as a complete life-cycle assessment or as independently verified savings for every laboratory installation. Resin recovery is part of its material-efficiency approach.

The official technology website identifies a Light-Form laboratory in Madrid and describes the complete sequence from light polymerization through surface processing and mapping. These details make the workflow broader than the single-flash headline suggests.

Local production and smart glasses remain development directions

IOT’s technology website presents multiple printing heads and compact in-store equipment as possible future production configurations. It also outlines prescription optics printed onto waveguides or flat substrates for smart glasses. These are development directions, distinct from its statement that progressive lenses are already reaching consumers.

The practical questions for optical partners include which prescriptions and materials can be supplied, how the finished lenses are qualified, what throughput a complete installation achieves and where service and distribution are available. A faster forming step can be valuable, but those operational details determine how a process fits a working optical laboratory.

Cover image: Light-Form technology during optical lens production, as supplied by IOT with its October 29, 2026 announcement. Image: IOT / PR Newswire.

Sources:
IOT official announcement, October 29, 2026: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iot-achieves-a-world-first-with-personalized-progressive-lenses-3d-printed-using-light-302922150.html
Light-Form official technology website, accessed November 4, 2026: https://light-form.com/
Written by 3DPTimes Editors, November 4, 2026.