In 1907, British optometrist Owen Aves first proposed the idea of gradient glasses. In 1910, Henry Orford Gowlland designed and produced similar spectacle lenses in Canada, but it was not successful due to technical limitations. French optical and mechanical engineer Bernard Maitenaz made a breakthrough in 1959, and developed the first pair of modern concept gradient glasses that are truly suitable for clinical wear. Its innovation in the concept of vision correction has won the attention of the world, and soon it was Promoted to the entire continent of Europe and North America.
With the development of computer and clinical application research, design software and instruments have been applied to the design and development of spectacle lenses, which has made great progress in the design of gradient glasses. The overall trend is: from the early single, hard, symmetrical, far-view spherical design To the contemporary diverse, modern soft, asymmetric, visual aspherical design development, from the single-sided design of the gradient front surface of the early gradient glasses to the composite design of the front and back surfaces of the gradient glasses. For early gradient glasses, researchers mainly consider mathematical, mechanical, and optical problems. With a more comprehensive understanding of the visual system, modern and future gradient glasses design will increasingly focus on gradient glasses and physiological optics, ergonomics, aesthetics, The link between psychology and physics.