Soliddd is building smart glasses for people with macular degeneration

For the past several years, the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center have been lousy with AR/VR/XR smart glasses. While some of the biggest names in tech, like Apple and Google, have struggled to gain traction in the category, accessible tech remains relatively unexplored.

There’s a lot of work to be done in terms of making the space more welcoming for more people. Soliddd is one of a growing number of startups exploring the link between smart glasses and accessibility.

This week at CES 2025, the company is showcasing a prototype version of its forthcoming SolidddVision glasses. The Brooklyn-based startup is specifically targeting people with macular degeneration. The degenerative eye disease affects roughly 13% of U.S. residents aged 40 and up, according to figures from the CDC.

Image Credits:Soliddd

The startup explains the technology like so:

The smartglasses use Soliddd’s unique and proprietary lens arrays, which resemble a fly’s eye, to project multiple separate images to the areas of the retina that are not damaged. This allows the brain to naturally construct stereopsis (the making of a 3D image in the brain) and a single full-field image with good acuity that feels like normal, in-focus sight.

The product is currently in beta and therefore looks a good deal different than the renders Soliddd has provided here. In their final form, they should look and feel more like a standard set of eyeglasses.

There’s still a lot of work and testing to be done, but the company optimistically believes that the glasses will ship at some point in 2025. While Soliddd is conducting clinical studies, it notes that they ultimately won’t require FDA approval before hitting the market.