The founder of Roanoke-based PixelOptics has stepped down as president and chief executive officer of the company, which has gained widespread attention for its self-focusing eyeglasses.

Ron Blum will remain chairman of the board and is taking the title of chief visionary officer, where he will lead the design and development of new products.

Replacing Blum is Brett Craig. The change took effect in late December and was announced this week.

The leadership change comes as PixelOptics has become well-known for its emPower automatically adjusting electronic eyeglasses. The goal is to market the glasses — with a suggested retail price of $1,200 —directly to consumers, concentrating first on national sales and then turning to the European and Asian markets, Craig said.

With focus shifting from development to sales, Blum said it was time to bring in a leader experienced in capturing market share and expanding a business internationally.

"My area of expertise, what I'd like to think I'm good at, is looking for a global opportunity, a need, inventing a solution for that need and, as I like to say, taking pure air and building value into that," Blum said. "I enjoy companies until they get to a certain size of magnitude. ... What happens when it gets to a certain size, and it is about scaling it and growing ... it's not my area of expertise."

Blum praised Craig, who most recently was president of Transitions Optical, as the right executive for the job. Transitions is the nation's leading manufacturer of photochromic treatments that darken eyeglass lenses.

"I would say that Brett is probably the most seasoned executive that we're going to have in the valley," Blum said. "I think he probably has more experience in growing a company and scaling the company and achieving what he has achieved than anyone else in the valley."

Under Craig's leadership, Transitions captured significant market share, Blum said. In fact, its market power caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, which in 2010 charged that the company had violated antitrust laws to maintain a monopoly and increase prices. The charges were settled with the company denying any wrongdoing.

Craig, who said his departure from Transitions was not related to the FTC complaint, already is making plans for growth at PixelOptics.

Last year the company, founded in 2005, grew from about 60 to about 100 employees. While Craig didn't say how many more jobs to expect, he said new positions will be added locally, nationally and internationally.

Among his goals are to create a more cost-efficient manufacturing process and expand the technology used in the emPower glasses.