Design with a cause: OneDollarGlasses

Published 7th August 2025

Discover the inspiring work of OneDollarGlasses e.V., a global organisation dedicated to providing affordable, long-term ophthalmic care in some of the world’s most underserved regions. This landing page brings together useful links, a downloadable article, podcast episodes and video content so teachers can explore how design and innovation are transforming lives through the power of sight.

A brilliant opportunity to bring real-world impact into your classroom, this story highlights how a simple design solution can change lives and provides resources you can use directly with your students.

A simple idea making a global impact

Around 950 million people worldwide need glasses but can’t afford them or access eye care. The solution? A lightweight, flexible spring-steel frame with unbreakable lenses that can be custom-fitted made locally using a manually operated bending machine. The total material cost? Around one US dollar.

But this is much more than just a pair of glasses.

The OneDollarGlasses model

• Self-sufficiency at its core – Local specialists are trained to manufacture and fit glasses using an electricity-free bending machine, making it ideal for rural areas.
• Affordable and accessible – Sold at two to three times the local daily wage, the glasses are priced to support sustainability without being out of reach.
• Training and employment – One-year training in Best Spherical Correction (BSC) prepares GoodVisionTechnicians to carry out eye tests and fit glasses, tackling both the skills shortage and unemployment.
• Immediate impact – Glasses are distributed directly through mobile eye camps, eliminating long delays and high travel costs.
• Inclusivity – Training programmes actively include people with disabilities, like in Burkina Faso where a blind employee works successfully in eyewear production.

This story makes a fantastic case study for exploring sustainable design, inclusive innovation and global citizenship in design and technology.

Watch it in action

See the impact for yourself in this short YouTube video showing the OneDollarGlasses initiative in practice. It’s a powerful visual resource to use when introducing the topic to your class.

Real results over 10 years

• Over 500,000 people fitted with affordable glasses
• More than 1.2 million eye tests performed
• Around 360 local jobs created across ten countries
• Operations in Asia, Africa and South America, including:
  Burkina Faso, Brazil, India, Kenya, Colombia, Liberia, Malawi, Myanmar, Peru

Recognised innovation

The model has earned multiple international awards, including:

• Empowering People Award – Siemens Stiftung (2013)
• The Tech Award, USA (2015)
• Bavarian State Medal for Social Merit (2017)
• Next Economy Award – German Sustainability Foundation (2017)

From the classroom to the world

Founder Martin Aufmuth, a teacher of maths and physics, began this project in his cellar after reading about the global lack of affordable glasses. What started as a passion project has grown into a worldwide movement, proving that ingenuity and compassion can transform lives.

“It’s not just about glasses—it’s about giving people back their ability to learn, work and live with dignity.”

Bring it into your teaching

The story of OneDollarGlasses is featured in Designing 127. Read the full article and explore more to support your teaching.

You can also download the article below to share with your students or save as inspiration. Whether you're teaching sustainability, product design or global impact, this resource is ready to go.

Connect it with ‘Inspired by Industry’

If you're inspired by the real-life innovation behind OneDollarGlasses, ‘Inspired by Industry’ is the perfect next step. Produced with leading design and manufacturing companies, ‘Inspired by Industry’ supports all design and technology teachers in delivering meaningful, real-world contexts at Key Stage 3.

By engaging with industry-based projects, students can experience how professionals prototype, test and solve problems, just like the team behind OneDollarGlasses. It's a chance to align your KS3 teaching with the skills and thinking needed for Key Stage 4 and beyond.

As a teacher, you can access an ever-growing bank of FREE curriculum support documents to help you deliver any, or all, of the ‘Inspired by Industry’ contexts. These have been developed to complement and enhance how you teach design and technology in the classroom.

If you're a member of the Design & Technology Association, you also have exclusive access to an array of member-only content designed to enrich your teaching and help you bring real-world design to life.

Let OneDollarGlasses be the start of a bigger conversation in your classroom, then take it further with ‘Inspired by Industry’.