From the eyewear featured in the Kingsman films to the Google Glass, high tech eyewear is becoming a reality. Though the technology hasn’t quite yet married with the design, for the right price for consumers, many companies are making headway into this wearable tech venture. So until then, what should you consider when thinking about upgrading to high-tech glasses?
Make Sure Your Specs are High Spec
The term ‘High tech eyewear’ can have a different meaning for everyone, and making sure your glasses are currently up to date, with the best technological advances for your eyesight is very important. Do you need single lenses or bifocals for different focus? You can also get varifocals at extra cost for focus from all distances.
What coatings do you have on your lenses? It’s standard now for eyewear providers to offer anti-scratch and anti-glare coatings on their lenses, but depending on your lifestyle and work, you may benefit from blue blocker coating and anti-UV protection on your prescription.
Research what is best for you and find a retailer who can provide you with advice on what will work best for a decent price, such as this range of glasses for men and women, that offer all coatings, and deal with everything from designer to affordable and everything in between. For some, buying online is as high-tech as it needs to get!
What Can High Tech Eyewear do?
Most smart-frame manufacturers are elusive when it comes to the technology they’re producing. But for simplicity’s sake, smart frames aim to provide the connectivity we have on our smart devices, into your eye line or using the frames of your glasses.
They can play music, through tiny speakers in the frame legs, record audio or video, take pictures, give directions, and can be controlled through touch and speech, just like your phone can. And some frames are already connected to voice assistants so that Siri and Alexa can whisper in your ear too.
Technology is also in development to eliminate the need for bifocals – ‘liquid crystal’ technology will automatically adjust focus based on your view, and could be a game-changer for people with presbyopia (the inability to focus on nearby objects).
When can I get Smart Frames?
Amazon has the Echo Frames currently on the market, and Apple and Bose are posed to release the next generation of smart prescription glasses. It may be a few more years until augmented reality technology is combined with the connectivity and functionality that the tech world craves, for prescription glasses. The issue currently is that they are more geared toward business use and less for consumers.
The time has not yet arrived for all glasses users to be buying high-tech eyewear, even though wearable technologies are attracting investor attention. There are few options available on the market now, but in terms of price, functionality and actually giving you 20/20 vision, you might be better waiting until all of our James Bond gadget fantasies are fulfilled.