When Bill Wiedemann’s clinical customers began requesting a high-performing LED face mask to offer their patients in 2022, he faced a problem and an opportunity. These professionals, already using Lumara Systems ’full-sized red light panels in their practices, weren’t willing to sell their clients what Bill bluntly calls “toys.”
“They all looked great. None of them actually worked,” Bill said. The request sparked a mission that would redefine an entire category. One year later, Wiedemann unveiled VISO, a second-generation red light therapy mask that isn’t just more effective—it’s a direct indictment of a billion-dollar industry built on beautiful devices that deliver minimal results.
“I’m upset that 95% of red light products shipped today do nothing,” he explained. “I wanted to create a red light solution that actually works and prove that most of what’s on the market is just a placebo with a power cord.”
Bill Wiedemann of Lumara Systems accepts the Best of Tech & Tools award at the recently concluded 2025 Gurus Beauty Awards—photo by Ghost Media Photography.
Wiedemann didn’t enter skincare through serums or spa days; he entered through science. With a 1980 degree in Electronic Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and 36 years of building venture-backed companies, he first encountered red light therapy in 2016 through a friend’s recommendation.
Curious, he tested a top competitor’s panel and was shocked. Their product delivered only 1.1 milliwatts per cm², a whisper of therapeutic power. His prototype is 15 times more powerful, delivering an average power of 25 MW/cm². That discrepancy sparked Lumara Systems ’founding on July 1, 2016, and began a seven-year journey grounded in one principle: results over rhetoric.
By 2022, LED face masks were everywhere. Instagram feeds, celebrity spas, gift guides—many claiming “professional-grade” results for home use. Over $1 billion in sales had been made in just six years. But in Bill’s lab, where measurements matter, these masks failed basic engineering tests.
“It’s like painting a wall with a brush that only touches 10% of the surface.” The culprit, he says, is poor coverage. Most masks spaced their LEDs 2.5 cm apart, covering only 8–25% of the face. It looks high-tech, but it’s closer to a disco ball than a medical device.
“Would you apply sunscreen with a Q-tip to 10 random spots on your face? No. So why would you apply light therapy that way?”
The solution was a complete reengineering. Wiedemann’s new design, VISO, used 660nm LEDs—the most clinically studied wavelength for skin health—and spaced them 0.8 cm apart, delivering 100% facial coverage with 35 mw/cm² peak power.
And while competitors claimed “wireless convenience,” Bill focused on power supply engineering, knowing full well that wireless meant weak. Finding a factory that could build to spec took six months, but it paid off.
“One engineer told me, ‘You can’t make a mask with that many LEDs. ’I said, ‘Watch me.’”
For skeptics (and Bill welcomes skeptics), there’s a simple test.
Use VISO for 20 minutes a day for 5 days, pressing one side of your face snugly into a pillow to increase contact.
“Look in the mirror on Friday morning. One side of your face will glow. The other won’t. Why? Because just 1/4 inch away from the skin reduces the energy reaching your cells. The proof is literally written on your face.”
Users report smoother texture, smaller pores, and that elusive “glass skin” glow in under a week.
Wiedemann didn’t need Hollywood to validate VISO, although A-listers are known to use LED face masks. His most powerful testimonials come from within: “My accountant used it for five days and walked into my office teary-eyed. Her daughter’s teacher thought she was her older sister.”
Another employee tried it once after her aunt raved. Bill noticed instantly.
“What did you do last night?” he asked. “Used the mask,” was their reply.
Noticing that someone’s skin looks dramatically better is the kind of feedback money can’t buy.
Bill has seen tremendous growth, and industry recognition is also growing. The Associated Skin Care Professionals recently named Lumara one of the top 3 red light therapy brands. “We don’t do celebrity hype. We do engineering,” Bill emphasized.
In a potential $40 million monthly market, VISO is poised to lead it.
