Google Glass To Offer Prescription Lenses, Stylish Frames


Google Glass is giving you another reason to spend money on the headset.

Folks who have dropped their hard-earned cash on the headset are quick to sing its praises, though it’s a little difficult for people who require prescription glasses to get on-board at the moment. However, Google is hoping to change all of that in the very near future.

In an effort to get as many people as humanly possible to buy Google Glass as possible, the company will roll out prescription lenses and stylish new frames for those of us who need glasses to go about our daily lives. According to CNN, Google hopes to have these new options ready to roll by the end of the year.

“We’re going to reach some day, hopefully it will be soon, where people will wonder ‘why would I want traditional glasses? They don’t do X, Y or Z,'” Google Glass Product Director Steve Lee recently explained.

However, people who wear prescription glasses should probably keep a traditional pair handy for when they don’t feel the need to have their eyes connected to the internet. Since some places and businesses frown upon the headset — movie theaters aren’t too keen on the idea just yet — you might need your regular glasses when heading into certain establishments or catching a flick on the big screen.

Since buying the headset and the prescription lenses could run you a pretty penny — the frames alone are presently priced at $225 — Google is joining forces with insurer VSP to cover some of the cost. Analyst J. P. Gownder told The New York Times that computer technology is quickly becoming a part of the health care system.

“Selling wearable consumer electronics one-on-one to individual consumers is kind of a tough business. By embedding them into the health care system, you can reach a mass market,” Gownder told the publication

Although Google Glass doesn’t officially offer prescription lenses right now, this hasn’t stopped some people from “hacking” the device to make the necessary changes. A few users have added sunglasses to the headset, an option Google is also exploring at the moment. The company will soon offer three Maui Jim-designed sunglasses for $150 a piece.

The Inquisitr previously reported that some folks are hoping Google Glass can help revitalize the porn industry over the next few years. However, filmmakers and producers in the adult film business said it’s too early to say whether the headset will have an impact going forward.

“As far as technology goes, that’s where the porn industry goes because everyone knows the porn industry were the pioneers,” Brick Yates explained at the XBIZ 360 conference.

Are you planning to buy Google Glass once the company begins offering prescription lenses? Do you think smartglasses are the wave of the future?

[Image via Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com]

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