Does anyone know if any of the common/commercial manufacturers are introducing 3d printed glasses, throughout any of there recent collections? I know that Mykita Mylon is like that, but not sure who else is jumping on board with these. Wasn't able to make the expo but surely many were introduced recently?
Hoya have introduced a system called Yuniku in Europe where each frame is made bespoke after the client is scanned in 3D. The idea is they start with the ideal placement of the lens and then build a frame around it...
It's an interesting concept but I can't see it becoming mainstream at all.
If 3d printing weren't so slow - and the materials and finishes were a little more consumer friendly (There is something about the feel of nice zyl when contrasted with the feel of rough HDPE, or PLA or ABS that just makes it more appropriate for something that touches your skin all the time)Originally Posted by Robert_S
the pluses of it all point to making it easier for salespeople to fit very good quality glasses.
The minuses all point to diminishing the value of the optician. If a salesperson with no optical knowledge can sit someone in a chair for three minutes, and pop out a perfect bespoke frame - that puts a lot of real opticians at a disadvantage, no matter how skilled they are in the adjustment arts. Yeah - that patient is up the river if they have a complex problem that is beyond quick troubleshooting flow charts. But there aren't enough of those for the industry to stay how it is.
Is this thread about frames or lenses?
Actually just the opposite!
The 3D scanning + frame system requires more optician (skilled), not less.
B
That presupposes the scanners get no better. I have played with some amazing versions of similar technology and we are on the way to this being idiot proof.
Not there yet. But if we were this is not a discussion we would be having.
Until YOU actually design/fit a frame to a 3D wire model, it's hard to undestand why it is difficult to do precisely without experience and skill.
B
I got a mineral core box to properly register depths using 3d scanning even while working with low competency core, and automatically coregister the minerology, geochem, photography, and other datasets including spot spectral minerology based on spectral tags made out of map pins doped with neodymium.
I 3d scanned a building and projection mapped it in MANY fewer steps than projection mapping traditionally takes.
My skillset/background IS this crap. Just because the stuff that has made it into your guus hands is garbage that doesn't mean folks like me can't make it WAY better really fast.
And code it all in python because that is what you want to be debugging when you are black out drunk at burning man. Yay pseudocode.
I'm using a Bellus 3D scanner and am also using Python.
The Gotti Dimension collection (3D printed) is new to our office and hasn't moved much but they are very sharp looking frames and very lightweight. They do have that 'rough' texture which is a put off for some (most?)
I like the idea as well as the new manufacturing technique but relaying that to patients has proven difficult.
I'm really interested in this discussion, and very interested that any manufacturers are considering the technology for frames.
I've worked a lot with 3D printing and other digital manufacturing technologies. It's got a lot of promise, but the problem I have is that that right now even the highest quality 3D printed plastic parts have very little inherent value beyond purely practical. As other folks have said above, they generally feel flimsy, look flimsier, and they need a lot of finishing to look acceptable.
I find that 3D printing is great for making engineering components and purely functional objects, where accuracy and fit matters above all else, and where you're solving problems with little regard to how the solution looks.
I know a lot of people view glasses as just that, and I guess that having a perfectly fitted and comfortable pair of frames will be enough for those folks whatever they look like. But I'd say that the majority of the population care about the materiality of things a lot more than they realise - especially something that you walk around with on your face for most of your waking hours. The nicest that I know of is natural ABS, which can have a bone-like quality when it's carefully polished.
I guess all that's going to change as more materials and processes become available, and I look forward to experimenting with them. I had some carbon steel parts laser sintered in metal recently and I was very impressed with them. Until then, CNC milling is where it's at for me. Similar levels of speed and control but with unlimited possibilities for materials.
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