With digital fabrication technology, it’s easier to design and manufacture lenses than ever before. We developed a fabrication process makes it easy to prototype optical designs.

Read our Instructable for a more in-depth look at our process.

It’s not always easy to predict how a given lens will distort an image. To make prototyping easier, we employed ray-tracing software to see how our lenses might distort once fabricated.

Our process uses Autodesk T-Splines to create lens geometry, and visualized its effects using Rhinocerous3D and the Neon raytracing renderer. With this technique, we were able to create lenses that achieve a desired effect.

Initially, we used the Objet 3D printers at Autodesk’s Pier 9 Workshop to manufacture the lenses. They were printed with VeroClear resin to achieve transparency. All of the new lenses are milled out of acrylic plastic on a 3-axis CNC router. We are exploring casting lenses in elastic silicone rubber.

After printing or milling, all of the lenses were sanded and polished to optical clarity during a 10-hour manual process.