Snapchat’s quirky new hardware product ‘Spectacles’ were just an agonizing tech accessory for people with eye prescriptions. The shiny new glasses were also a matter of concern for those who wanted to enjoy the moment as well as record their surroundings within a closed space.
To resolve the said matter, Snapchat parent Snap Inc. has come up with – ta da – prescription glasses. The services of prescription glasses would be offered by NYC-based lens manufacturer Rochester Optical.
For people who wish to get a new pair of prescription glasses, you’ll need to send in your Spectacles to Rochester’s facilities. The team there would then generate custom-fit lenses based on your prescription. The company claims to deliver the product with a week’s time including the processing and shipping span. Further, Rochester Optical would only offer 5-axis edging machinery, which means the power won’t exceed 5 diopters – which might be a concern for some.
Commenting on the same, Patrick Ho, CEO of Rochester Optical, stated,
We’ve been working with heads-up displays for a long time, and Spectacles are just a form of smart glasses without the heads-up-display.
Rochester Optical has been recognized as a leader of the optical world and is currently working on several leading wearable technologies. Some of those include Microsoft HoloLens, Google Glass, Epson Moverio, and Intel Recon Jet. Snap Spectacles adds to this list.
We already cut similar notches in lenses for Google Glass to accommodate the HUD, so cutting rounded notches in the lens corners to work around the Spectacle cameras is very similar,
mentions Patrick in his statement.
Though, the pricing for prescription spectacles has been surged up. You’ll need to make overhead financial sacrifices to get them changed. The charges are in addition to the basic price of $130. It starts from $99 for normal lenses, $149 for polarized ones, and photochromic options cost about $200.
The company started selling these video-recording glasses through Snapbots, which started appearing at random locations, in November. Online orders through the official website have also been enabled now. With the launch of prescription glasses, it would certainly increase the craze for Spectacles and ease consumer issues — which is a plus for Snapchat (and a loss for its copy-cat rivals).
