This is Warby Parker, a company that has launched a technology that allows us to examine our eyes without leaving home, without having to go to the ophthalmologist, and also with the option of requesting a new frame for glasses. How does it work? Well, basically you use a computer, a smartphone, and the company’s app. The exam, of no more than 20 minutes, requires us to be 3.6 meters from the PC, and after finishing it will send the results to an ophthalmologist. He will answer us within 24 hours, and if they remain the same, he will send us a report in case we want to change the frame of the glasses, if they have changed, he will send us to have another exam, this time at an optician’s.
The bad thing is that the process, fast and effective, is right now in its debut as they say and still needs to meet many requirements, such as the fact that the app currently only works on the iPhone, that you have to live in the United States (where Warby is Parker basically), be a customer of the company, have no history of eye disease, and have had an eye exam within the last 5 years. Yes, too many things for non-Americans, but what’s interesting about this is the technology itself, and how other companies like Smart Vision Labs are also adopting it.
Warby Parker initiates another revolution in optics. The company, which was born in the United States in 2010 and broke the rules of the sector with a test system for selling glasses, has released the Virtual Vision Test application, which allows users to self-grade their vision from a mobile phone and facilitate the renewal of glasses and contact lenses.
The app works with a proprietary Warby Parker distance estimation algorithm, which has been developed using Apple’s
The graduation process is done with an iPhone mobile phone. However, it is not an automatic process, since the results must be sent to an optician-optometrist, who must validate them within 48 hours.
Warby Parker will refer the user to an eye care professional for a comprehensive review if the Virtual Vision Test detects vision abnormalities.
Virtual Vision Test is an update to the Prescription Check app, which Warby Parker introduced in 2017 to power its telehealth-based business.
Warby Parker emerged 11 years ago in Philadelphia at the initiative of Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa, and Jeffrey Raid. The company launched an eyewear sales model with the online channel as its cornerstone: buyers choose five models from the Warby Parker website, which are sent to their homes for them to try them on.
What are the requirements to use the application? Warby Parker establishes some basic criteria such as being over 18 years old, not having a serious eye health problem.
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It is important to mention that this application does not replace a visit to the ophthalmologist or optometrist.
It also asks users to wear a single vision distance prescription and see well with their current lenses.
Prescription Check guides users to take the test over the phone and alternately cover their eyes.
Warby Parker says the updated app uses a new proprietary distance estimation algorithm and a proprietary software framework for Apple devices called the Vision Framework to save everything on your phone.
Vision Frame performs face and facial landmark detection, text detection, barcode recognition, image registration, and general function tracking.
