Founded in 2021, XPANCEO has emerged as a pioneer in reimagining how we interact with technology. Unlike companies developing the next generation of smartphones or laptops, XPANCEO is taking a fundamentally different approach: computing that sits directly on your eye. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025, the deep tech company unveiled multiple prototypes that demonstrate their vision of invisible, weightless computing through smart contact lenses.
The core concept behind XPANCEO’s technology is both simple and revolutionary: replace traditional silicon-based devices with computing that feels as natural as your own vision. By integrating advanced technology into contact lenses, XPANCEO aims to create a seamless blend between digital information and the physical world—what they call an “eXtended Reality experience.” Their philosophy, “the best device is no device,” reflects their commitment to making technology that disappears into the background while enhancing human capabilities.
These smart contact lenses are not just theoretical concepts or early laboratory experiments. At MWC 2025, XPANCEO demonstrated working prototypes with capabilities ranging from health monitoring to augmented reality (AR), suggesting that their vision of invisible computing is approaching reality.
The Three Main Prototypes
Smart Contact Lens with Wireless Powering Companion
One of the fundamental challenges for any wearable device—particularly one as small as a contact lens—is power delivery. XPANCEO’s first prototype addresses this challenge with a wireless powering system that significantly advances current technology.
This lens features fully remote power transfer with twice the range of previous industry solutions, allowing users to power their lenses without direct contact. The powering companion is designed as a portable accessory that can be carried in a purse or pocket, similar in size and form to a standard contact lens case.
Despite the advanced technology, the lens maintains a flexible, lightweight design. Safety remains important—the radiation levels are comparable to common wearable devices, addressing potential concerns about having a powered device so close to the eye.
Smart Contact Lens with Wireless Powering Companion (XPANCEO)
Biosensing Smart Contact Lens
The second prototype showcases the potential of smart lenses for health monitoring. Traditional biomarker measurements often require invasive procedures like blood draws, which can be inconvenient and uncomfortable. XPANCEO’s Biosensing Smart Contact Lens takes a different approach by measuring body parameters directly from tear fluid.
The lens features an advanced biosensor that works with nanoparticles to enhance the signal of elements present in tear fluid. This technology enables high-sensitivity monitoring of key health indicators including:
- Glucose levels, important for diabetes management
- Various hormones including cortisol, estradiol, estrone, progesterone, and testosterone
- Vitamins B1, B2, B3, E, and D
By continuously monitoring these biomarkers, the lens could transform personal health management. Rather than periodic testing, users would have constant awareness of their body’s chemistry, potentially enabling earlier detection of health issues and more personalized wellness approaches.
Biosensing Smart Contact Lens (XPANCEO)
Smart Contact Lens with IOP Sensor
The third prototype addresses a specific but critical health concern: glaucoma management. Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, is characterized by increased pressure inside the eye (intraocular pressure or IOP). Early detection and continuous monitoring are essential for preventing vision loss.
XPANCEO’s IOP Sensor lens provides non-invasive, continuous monitoring of eye pressure. At MWC, the company demonstrated this technology alongside a custom eye model that replicates the human eye. The lens contains a nearly invisible optical pattern that shifts in response to changes in intraocular pressure.
When users scan this pattern with an AI-powered smartphone app, they receive real-time, precise measurements of their IOP. This system could dramatically improve early glaucoma detection and ongoing management, potentially preventing irreversible vision loss through timely intervention.
Smart Contact Lens with IOP Sensor (XPANCEO)
Additional Innovations
Beyond the three main prototypes, XPANCEO also showcased two additional smart contact lens technologies that expand their vision of invisible computing.
Improved AR Vision Lens with Integrated Microdisplay
XPANCEO demonstrated an enhanced version of their AR Vision lens featuring an integrated microdisplay. Unlike typical augmented reality systems that require bulky headsets, this technology is embedded directly into a contact lens. The microdisplay can project digital information directly onto the retina, creating a blend of digital and physical worlds.
What makes this particularly impressive is the size constraint—creating display technology small enough to fit in a contact lens while maintaining visual clarity represents a significant advancement. The AR Vision lens points toward applications ranging from navigation and real-time information display to completely new forms of digital interaction.
Data Reading Lens with Wireless Transmission
The fifth prototype unveiled at MWC was a Smart Contact Lens for Data Reading, equipped with an integrated wireless data transmission antenna and mass-production-ready flexible electronics. This lens enables real-time transfer of information from the contact lens to a companion device.
The companion device serves a dual purpose—functioning as both a charger and a computational hub. This architecture allows the lens to remain small and comfortable while offloading intensive processing tasks to the companion device. Users can receive biometric information collected by the lens directly on their smartphones, making the data immediately accessible and useful.
Technical Achievements
XPANCEO’s prototypes are several breakthrough technologies that are working to overcome longstanding challenges in wearable computing.
Among the most significant achievements demonstrated at MWC 2025 were:
- Sub-0.5mm projectors: These ultra-miniaturized display components enable visual information to be projected while maintaining the thin profile necessary for a comfortable contact lens.
- World’s thinnest flexible 2D conductors: These allow electronic components to bend with the lens, essential for both comfort and durability.
- High-sensitivity compact IOP sensors: These can detect minute changes in eye pressure while remaining small enough for integration into a contact lens.
- Nanoparticle-enhanced biosensors: This technology amplifies the signal from biomarkers in tear fluid, allowing detection at very low concentrations.
These technologies can offer solutions to multiple challenges: miniaturization, flexibility, power efficiency, and signal detection. Many of these capabilities were previously thought impossible at the scale of a contact lens.
The relationship between the contact lenses and their companion devices is a critical design choice. Rather than trying to pack all computing power into the lens itself—which would create power and heat issues—XPANCEO has developed a distributed computing model.
The companion devices handle power delivery, data processing, and connectivity with other systems. This approach keeps the lenses thin and comfortable while still enabling sophisticated functionality. The companion devices are designed to be unobtrusive, similar in size to a contact lens case that can be carried in a pocket or purse.
Reshaping Human-Computer Interaction
The most profound implication of these lenses is the potential shift in how we interact with computing. XPANCEO’s statement that “the best device is no device” suggests a future where technology recedes from conscious awareness while becoming more intimately connected to our bodies and senses.
This approach could eliminate many of the barriers and frictions in current human-computer interaction. Instead of typing, swiping, or speaking, interaction might happen through more natural means like gaze direction. Instead of pulling out a device to access information, that information would be available within our visual field whenever needed.
This is a significant evolution from the smartphone era. While smartphones made computing portable, they still require deliberate attention and physical interaction. Contact lens computing would create a world where the interface between humans and digital information becomes nearly imperceptible, creating truly ubiquitous and frictionless access to the digital world.
