If you abstract away the advanced functionality that Google has bundled into the relatively small Glass eyewear – and look past the hype – then you are left with a pair of glasses that actually provide no benefit to individuals who actually need help with their vision on a daily basis. That limitation of Glass will hopefully be eradicated within the next few weeks, with Rochester Optical announcing that Glass compatible prescription frames will be available imminently.
The company in question has a long and proud history of providing functional and fashionable eyewear to the military. Rochester took the opportunity last week to issue a questionnaire to the Glass community, with the intention of finding out more about those using the eyewear and how the technology is actually used in their day-to-day activities.
Rochester Optical so far seem to be the only company that has gotten fully onboard with Google and the Glass technology, with the aim of ensuring that near and far sighted individuals can continue to enjoy the benefits that Glass brings without the trade-off of poor vision.
Pre-orders of the various prescription lenses and frames will be available almost immediately after this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held next in Las Vegas. The company has also used the feedback from consumers to produce a pricing structure for the lenses and frames, with prices starting at a very reasonable $99.00.
Considering early adopters of Glass had to fork out $1500 to get their hands on the headset, it represents a very reasonable outlay and a must-have for those with limited vision. It’s worth noting that the Rochester Optical offering will be entirely different to Google’s own vision of a prescription Glass prototype.
Rather than replacing the entire frame and relocate the vital heads-up-display, Rochester will be producing a frame that clips on to the current Glass hardware between the nose pieces.
We’ll certainly know more about the company’s intentions after the CES event next month, but at the moment it looks like Rochester Optical will be the first to offer this type of solution to Glass users.
We just wish Google came up with this first.
(via: SlashGear)
You may also like to check out:
- First Look At Google Glass With Prescription Spectacles [Leaked Photos]
- Google Glass v2 Unboxing And Quick Hands-On [Photo Gallery]
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