Edenlux Aims to Combat ‘Digital Eye Strain’ with AI-Powered Vision Recovery Tools
As smartphone usage continues to climb-averaging over three hours daily for many adults and exceeding six hours for some-a growing body of research links prolonged screen time to a surge in eye-health issues, including dry eyes, fatigue, blurred vision, and worsening nearsightedness. Now, a South Korean startup is stepping into this emerging market with a suite of devices designed to address the root causes of these problems.
From Personal Struggle to Technological Innovation
The story of edenlux is deeply personal.Founder and CEO Sungyong Park, a former military physician, experienced a temporary paralysis of his eye muscles after a routine injection. Faced with a discouraging prognosis, Park proactively sought solutions, importing specialized equipment to retrain his own eye muscles. This experience sparked the idea for Edenlux, and its first product, Otus.
Introducing Eyeary: A Next-Generation Vision Trainer
Edenlux recently unveiled eyeary, a new vision-training device poised to expand the company’s reach, allowing it to be marketed for vision training and general eye health. The company opted for a crowdfunding launch, citing sufficient cash reserves from previous funding rounds to support operations for several years.
Eyeary represents a meaningful design enhancement over Edenlux’s first product, Otus, launched in 2022 in several Asian markets. Otus, a VR-style device, utilizes lenses to contract and relax the ciliary muscle-the muscle responsible for focusing the eye’s lens. While Otus has generated $10 million in cumulative revenue, Eyeary is designed to be faster, easier to use, and more aesthetically appealing.
“With Otus, users typically took about 12 months to reduce their dependence on reading glasses. Eyeary could shorten that to around six months,” Park claimed.
How Eyeary Works: AI-Powered Personalization
Eyeary resembles a standard pair of glasses but incorporates a sophisticated lens system with 144 diopter focal points,allowing for more precise eye-muscle training compared to Otus’s five diopter focal points. The device connects to a mobile app via Bluetooth,collecting usage data that is then analyzed by Edenlux’s servers. Leveraging artificial intelligence, the company analyzes datasets based on age, gender, and vision profiles to predict improvement timelines and customize training programs for each user.
Prolonged screen time overworks the ciliary muscle. As Park explained, “When people are young, the muscle is strong enough to focus.But constant smartphone use keeps it contracted, and over time, it can weaken, leading to fatigue and vision problems.”
A Growing Portfolio of Vision and Hearing Solutions
Edenlux is developing a comprehensive suite of products targeting specific eye and ear conditions. Beyond Otus and Eyeary,the company’s pipeline includes Tearmore for dry eye,Lux-S for strabismus (misaligned eyes),Lumia for myopia prevention,and Heary for auditory recovery. Tearmore,Lux-S,Lumia,and Heary are slated for rollout in Asia.
Positioning Edenlux in the Wellness Tech Landscape
Park positions Edenlux alongside companies like Oura Ring, which also collects biometric data and provides personalized insights via software and a subscription model. Though, while Oura focuses on sleep and heart rate, Edenlux concentrates on vision and hearing health. The company’s target audience encompasses anyone who regularly uses smartphones and earphones.
Edenlux has secured significant funding, raising $39 million in a Series A round in 2020 and $60 million in a Series B round in 2022. The company recently established a U.S. subsidiary in Dallas, Texas, to handle final device assembly. Looking ahead, Edenlux is exploring potential partnerships with major tech firms like Apple or Samsung to integrate its vision-protecting technology directly into smartphones.
Edenlux believes that addressing eye health in the digital age is not merely a wellness trend, but a rapidly evolving area within consumer technology-driven by firsthand insight, advanced science, and innovative hardware.
