Our eyes may soon become much more than just sense organs. Imagine contact lenses that monitor your blood sugar through your tears, or what They charge while you keep them in a wireless case, or again which keep intraocular pressure under constant control to prevent glaucoma. XPANCEO, a company at the forefront of “deep tech”, presented three prototypes at Mobile World Congress 2025 that bring these scenarios closer.
The company’s smart contact lenses are a major leap forward in the very concept of wearable technology: one that literally brings it into our eyes. And the future they promise is as fascinating as it is scary.
The invisible power of XPANCEO lenses
I have always been struck by how technology is moving inexorably towards miniaturization. From the bulky computers of the 70s to the thin smartphones of today, to the almost invisible wearable devices. XPANCEO pushes this concept to the extreme, with this prototype contact lens with completely wireless energy transfer.
The first prototype, by the way, solves one of the fundamental problems of any “smart” device: power supply. The solution offers double the range of previous industry technologies, powering a contact lens wirelessly from a compact device, such as a lens case you might carry with you.
The idea of literally having electricity shot into your eyes doesn't seem like a great starting point for any smart health device, yet XPANCEO says its solution emits radiation levels similar to other common wearable devices like the best wireless headphones. Do we trust?
Tears reveal your health
The second prototype It is perhaps the most surprising: a contact lens equipped with biosensors capable of measuring body parameters directly from the tear fluid. The lens uses nanoparticles to enable highly sensitive monitoring of biomarkers such as glucose, hormones like cortisol, estradiol, estrone, progesterone e testosterone, and vitamins B1, B2, B3, E e D.
If Apple is still trying to solve non-invasive blood glucose monitoring with Apple Watch, XPANCEO proposes a decidedly more clinical and science-fiction future in which it is possible to measure body metrics through tears.
Glaucoma Prevention Becomes Invisible
The third prototype XPANCEO's technological innovation is a non-invasive glaucoma management system. Using an AI-powered smartphone app and a built-in intraocular pressure sensor, the company says it can provide “instant, highly accurate measurements” that can be used to detect glaucoma early before significant vision loss occurs.
That's not all. The company also showed an improved technology for contact lenses with augmented reality, which no longer uses external image sources but features an integrated microdisplay that can show images previously only visible through smart glasses or AR/VR viewers.
XPANCEO, the future in your eyes
Of course, showing off these prototypes is a far cry from developing a contact lens that incorporates all of this technology into a commercially viable package that can be mass-produced. But if XPANCEO can develop even one of these technologies for the mass market, it could have a major healthcare breakthrough on its hands.
I think, in any case, that we are facing a paradigm shift in wearable technology. If today we measure steps with a smartwatch on our wrist, tomorrow we could monitor dozens of vital parameters through smart lens, devices invisible to others. XPANCEO contact lenses usher in an era in which technology truly becomes part of us, invisible and omnipresent. A fascinating future, but one that also raises questions about the privacy and intimacy of our most personal biological data.
