By Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD,
and Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD
Oct. 19, 2022
Smart glasses that enable control of devices and digital content are once again being talked about. A couple examples are the smart glasses offered by Bose and the collaboration between Meta and Ray-Ban. Here are points to consider before selling smart glasses in your practice.
Cost
The cost to consumers is reasonable. Bose Frames Tenor and Bose Frames Soprano sell for $249.i Rayban Stories Smart Glasses frames are priced at $329-$379. Add lenses fees to get the final cost to the consumer for the Rayban product. Bose uses lensabl for prescription lenses, but you can use your own lab. Here is an example of a fee summary from the lensabl website showing the total cost to a consumer for the Bose Product: ii
What Can You Do With These Frames
A commonly asked question is: can phone calls be made with these frames? The answer is: yes, calls can be answered and ended by pressing the multi-function button. In fact, using Bluetooth connectivity, any app that’s on your mobile device can be accessed. Examples include:
- Music services like Spotify and Apple Music
- Voice communication apps like Skype and WhatsApp
- Navigation apps like Google Maps or Waze
While Bose is limited to Bluetooth, Rayban Stories Smart Glasses adds the ability to connect to WiFi
Battery Performance
With typical usage, the Bose battery lasts up to 5.5 hours of streaming music playback. Battery performance will vary with content played and volume used. Rayban claims that the battery lasts up to eight hours.
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Sound
Several of the people commenting on the product in the reviews highlighted the fact that no one around could hear what was being listened to, giving confidence in privacy.
Polarized Lenses
Both Bose and Rayban have the ability to have either polarized or clear lenses.
Where Can These Frames Be Purchased
Bose: The frames must be purchased through their website (they are not sold through doctors’ offices or opticals), then the lenses can be put in by whatever lab you use.
Rayban Stories: These frames are sold through official Ray-Ban stores and from certified Ray-Ban dealers (online & in-store).
Bottom Line
If you are positioning your practice as forward-facing, then this is a product that will help you market that perception to your patients. According to Bose, they are currently strongly selling this product. That tells us that the general public is accepting this concept strongly. If you do not want to offer this product line in your practice, then at least you need to be aware of it.
The next product we will explore is smart lenses that show a projected display (similar to Google Glass). We will do that in a future article.
References
i. Bluetooth Audio Sunglasses | Bose
ii. https://www.lensabl.com/bose-eyewear/bose-soprano?from=boseRx
