EU-funded VIVA project to develop 'smarter' glasses
Today’s smart glasses can’t sense whether you’re reading, climbing stairs or drifting off while driving, and they’re often bulky, warm and uncomfortable to wear for extended periods. Some even leave users feeling disoriented or nauseous.
But a new project, VIVA, funded by the European Commission, aims to change this by using the same VCSEL lasers as those in smartphone Face ID systems.
VIVA aims to use light to track eye movements with extreme precision, helping warn us when we’re distracted on the road, easing cognitive strain in complex workplaces and making wearable tech feel far more natural to use.
“For years, eye‑tracking has been stuck in research labs or bulky headsets. With VIVA, we want to improve the end-user experience,” said Thomas Schlebusch, VIVA project coordinator at Bosch Sensortec.
“Laser‑based sensing lets us shrink the hardware to the point where it fits naturally into something as familiar as a pair of glasses. It’s fast, it’s accurate, and it respects your privacy because it doesn’t rely on cameras or photograph your retinas. We’re building something people can genuinely use in the real world, not just in controlled test setups.
“The frame prototypes built within the VIVA project are not consumer products, but research demonstrators built to validate the VIVA eye‑tracking system in real-world conditions. They illustrate what future smart glasses could do once this sensing principle is integrated into next-generation wearable displays.”
One of the project’s first demonstrations is a pair of auto-focal smart glasses that adjust their lenses automatically based on what the wearer is doing, without any buttons, gestures or manual input.
Today’s autofocal systems often rely on bulky video-based eye-tracking or electrical sensors, which can be slow, imprecise or uncomfortable.
VIVA replaces all of that with laser-based eye-tracking, small enough to fit inside everyday eyewear, enabling the glasses to detect when a user begins reading – a behaviour marked by distinctive, well-studied eye-movement patterns – and instantly sharpen the lenses for close-up vision.
The system aims for over 95 percent reliability, a >100 Hz gaze-angle detection rate, and robustness to false triggers, such as simply glancing downward.
The consortium is currently developing prototypes and performing system-level integration tests. Initial applications are anticipated in automotive and industrial settings, where reliability and privacy are critical, while integration with consumer-grade smart glasses remains a longer-term goal.
Bosch Sensortec GmbH coordinates the VIVA project in Reutlingen, Germany, and brings together 13 partners from seven countries, including TRUMPF Photonic Components, Sigma Connectivity, NIL Technology, Morrow, RWTH Aachen University, the Technical University of Munich, Universidad Pública de Navarra and TNO. The consortium spans Europe’s leading expertise in photonics, sensing, software and advanced manufacturing – a collaborative effort to push eye‑tracking technology out of the lab and into everyday devices.
