Kubota Glass, an allegedly revolutionary pair of glasses capable of curing people of myopia, aka nearsightedness, has recently gone on sale in Japan for a whopping $5,700.
We originally wrote about Kubota Glass in January of 2021, when Kubota Pharmaceutical first announced that it had come up with a non-invasive way of reversing the effects of an ophthalmological condition expected to affect half of the world’s population by 2050. Myopia, or nearsightedness, is an eye disorder where light focuses in front of, instead of on, the retina, making objects in the distance appear blurry, while close ones appear normal. Apart from genetic factors, myopia has been associated with environmental causes, such as the lack of exposure to normal visual stimuli normally found outdoors, in daylight conditions. With so many of us spending more and more time indoors in front of our TVs, monitors and computer screens, it’s no wonder that myopia cases are increasing at an alarming rate.
Photo: Kubota Pharmaceutical
Up until now, the only non-invasive ways of dealing with the symptoms of myopia were prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses. There was also the invasive solution of refractive surgery, which doesn’t guarantee that the patient won’t develop the same condition in the future. However, last year, Japanese startup Kubota Pharmaceutical announced that it had invented a special type of eyeglasses that could reverse the effects of myopia on the eye, essentially curing the condition.
“This product, which uses multifocal contact lens technology, passively stimulates the entire peripheral retina with light myopically defocused by the non-central power of the contact lens,” a 2021 press release by the company read. “Kubota Glasses technology leverages nanotechnology in its electronic glasses-based device and seeks to reduce the progression of myopia by actively stimulating the retina for shorter periods while maintaining high-quality central vision and not affecting daily activities.”
Photo: Kubota Pharmaceutical
Apparently, Kubota Glass eyeglasses feature micro-LEDS that project virtual images on the peripheral visual field to actively stimulate the retina, and wearing them just 60 to 90 minutes a day is enough to correct the effects of myopia.
We already covered the way Jubota Glass eyeglasses work in our previous article on the device, but we thought we should revisit the topic, because Kubota Pharmaceutical recently launched their invention. It’s often the case with such intriguing devices that they never hit the market. They work as a proof of concept, but prove ineffective during testing and the whole project collapses. Well, that’s not the case with Kubota Glass, apparently.
Photo: Kubota Pharmaceutical
SoraNews24 recently announced that the first pairs of nearsightedness-curing eyeglasses became available at select opticians in Japan’s Hyogo and Kanagawa prefectures. Only 20 pairs are up for grabs between August 1st and September 15, with the price for each sitting at an eye-watering 770,000 yen ($5,700).
Don’t despair yet, though, as this is only a trial run aimed at gauging demand for the future. The price of Kubota Glass is expected to come down as demand increases, but we’ll probably still have to pay a pretty penny to cure our nearsightedness without surgery.
No word yet on a global release schedule for Kubota Glass, as the company behind them has already announced its intention to focus on the domestic market and then Asia, which has a high ratio of nearsighted people.
