Glasses that slow short-sightedness in children just made TIME's best inventions of 2026

Short-sightedness (myopia) is rising fast in children around the world, and nearly 5 billion people are projected to be myopic by 2050. Ordinary glasses correct the blur but do nothing to slow the eye's change. Essilor Stellest lenses are different: they are designed to slow how quickly a child's myopia worsens, and in September 2025 they became the first — and still the only — spectacle lenses authorised for sale in the USA for that purpose, after earlier receiving the US regulator's Breakthrough Device designation. TIME has now named them one of its Best Inventions of 2026 in Health & Wellness, a nod to acting early: the sooner a child's worsening sight is slowed, the lower the risk of serious eye problems later in life.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation