Future of Optics: The ultimate contact lens

Twenty years ago, two of the most prominent contact lens (CL) researchers in the world (Professors Brien Holden and Debbie Sweeney) predicted what the ultimate CL would look like moving forward.¹ Sadly, Professor Holden, the most visionary CL researcher in the history of our profession, passed away in July 2015. When their article was written back in January 2000, the biggest news was the commercialisation of silicone hydrogel (SiHy) materials by Bausch + Lomb and CIBA-Vision just one year prior. Daily disposable lenses were in their relative infancy, having been launched in the mid-1990s, and there were around half the number of CL wearers globally compared to best estimates today (80 million vs 150 million). With the luxury of hindsight, it is now possible to assess how close their predictions were, while also attempting the same feat with a look forward to what the CL practitioner of today may expect to be fitting in 2040.