Zenni to provide prescription lens inserts for Meta VR headset

ByNancy Hemphill, ELS, FAAO

Fact checked byHeather Biele

LAS VEGAS — Zenni Optical has announced a partnership with Meta to provide prescription lens inserts for the just-launched Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset.

“Traditionally you think of eye wear as glasses on the face, but now we’re inside the VR device, and there are other applications we’re working on,” David Ting, Zenni’s global chief technology officer and general manager, told Healio at Vision Expo West.

"Traditionally you think of eye wear as glasses on the face, but now we're inside the VR device." David Ting

Previously, people who need vision correction would put their glasses on and then put the VR headset on over top of their glasses.

“It’s not a very comfortable experience,” he said.

The lens inserts can be preordered now and will be available in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Japan beginning Oct. 10.

Ting said Zenni hopes to bring new product lines to eye care providers with opportunities for collaboration in the future.

“Through Zenni for Business, we’re going to power one of the larger ECP networks in the U.S. with 350 stores with our software solution,” he said. “They’re brick-and-mortar only; they don’t think it made sense for them to invest in technology.”

Ting said Zenni decided to create partnerships vs. opening physical stores and competing with ECPs.

“We know there are things that Zenni cannot do,” he said. “For example, if you have to have your eye wear serviced, right now it’s not very eco-friendly. You send it back; we send you a new pair. So, now, with partners in a store, we can send you to a store where they can fix it. It’s a better end user experience. We’re going to be building applications to look for eye health problems and give it out for free so it generates demand for doctors.”

He said Zenni wishes to be “philanthropic and do good for the world. I look at it as creating an avenue [where] we can all thrive together.”

Reference:

Zenni Optical launches VR prescription lenses for Meta Quest 3. Published Sept. 27, 2023. Accessed Sept. 27, 2023.

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Source:

Healio Interviews

Disclosures: Ting is employed by Zenni Optical.

Vision Expo West

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Zenni to provide prescription lens inserts for Meta VR headset

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