Sony Alpha Cameras Powering a New Eye Test and Digital Eyewear Shop
Swedish tech company ieye has partnered with Sony in a new kiosk that uses an Alpha camera to scan a shopper’s face to provide a bespoke selection of frames tailored specifically to an individual.
ieye is developing and operating a new network of digitized pop-up eyewear kiosks and stores with the goal of an algorithmic and tech-driven alternative to the analog and traditional optical retail model. The company says its op-up’s are world-first 100% digitized optical stores with no physical products offering a seamless and personalized online/offline retail customer experience.
The partnership between the two companies is based on the use of a Sony Alpha 7 camera and the company’s 50mm lens, which is at the core of its new kiosk. ieye leverages Sony’s 145-point facial tracking technology, typically used to achieve accurate autofocus in photos and video, to get an accurate facial scan of a person including the base of their nose which allows for precise frame fittings.
The company says that these facial tracking points are used to determine the target face size and shape, and hair tones are also analyzed to match eyewear frame color, shape, and size with the end user’s features. This data is then combined with information on the customer’s age, gender, country, and past purchases of people with the same profile to create a list of frame styles, colors, and sizes that ieye believes are most likely to suit them. That information is sent directly to a customer’s phone after the scan is complete.
Data collected during the eye test is analyzed by algorithms that calculate proposals for optic recipes and glass types, then the final prescription is always performed by a licensed optician who can monitor the tests remotely.
The digitalized eye test takes about five minutes and glasses that are fitted and ordered through the kiosks are delivered in ten days. ieye says that it costs 80% less than traditional optic services and the system allows a customer to virtually try on hundreds of frames that are selected specifically for them thanks to the face scan.
The Swedish technology company has already begun to deploy the kiosks in shopping centers, supermarkets, and pharmacies to make the process of quality optometry cheaper and more accessible to more people.
Image credits: ieye
