Yahoo News How to order prescription Snapchat Spectacles
Fear not, glasses wearers. Prescription lenses for Spectacles, Snap's video-camera glasses, have arrived.
Rochester Optical, a lens manufacturer based in Rochester, New York, is now cutting and selling prescription lenses for Spectacles, the company announced Thursday.
SEE ALSO: People are already hacking their Snapchat Spectacles
The lenses start at $99 and cost depends on prescription strength, lens type and coating. The lens types include standard plastic, high-index, polarized Rx Sun or photochromic.
Image: rochester optical
Interested purchasers must complete an online order form and then ship their Spectacles directly to the store.
Turnaround will depend on the complexity of the prescription, but a safe estimate for processing is two to three days plus one day for shipping (not including the time it takes for the Spectacles to arrive at the lens manufacturer).
Rochester Optical was the first company to sell a prescription lens solution for Google Glass back in 2014. It also offers lenses for Microsoft's HoloLens, Sony's SmartEyeglasses and other tech wearables.
Image: mashable/lance ulanoff
Rochester Optical will completely replace the existing lenses in Spectacles, instead of retrofitting them.
"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. 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," Patrick Ho, CEO of Rochester Optical, said in a statement.
Rochester Optical isn't the only company offering a prescription solution for Spectacles. Sarah Evans, a branded content creator, went to LensCrafters in Las Vegas earlier this month and got her pair of Spectacles fitted with Transitions, lenses that are clear indoors and darken when exposed to sunlight.
LensCrafters told Business Insider it is retrofitting Spectacles on a "case by case basis."
"Ultimately, we need to be sure every lens we create for a frame is done so to the highest standard of quality," a company spokesperson said.
Snap, the makers of Spectacles, has avoided selling prescription lenses for their product and advises owners to consult an optician.
@JakeBullington Hi! The lenses aren’t much different from the ones in your average sunglasses. We recommend consulting an optician
— Spectacles Support (@SpecsSupport) November 19, 2016
Snap's Spectacles support page has a section for opticians that reads, "Never apply heat or water anywhere near the front of the frame where the electronics are housed while handling Specs. Rx total power cannot exceed -5 diopters." It also includes a contact form.
