INSIGHTS Optical’s Influence on Wearables Is Growing By Andrew Karp Monday, February 15, 2016 12:00 AM When smart glasses first appeared, many eyecare professionals were curious about their potential. But since Google yanked its Glass wearable off the market a year ago and no other product has come along to capture the public’s attention, interest among ECPs, and consumers in general, has waned. However, there’s a lot of exciting new products being developed that could reignite ECPs’ interest in smart glasses and other wearables. Dozens of companies are introducing innovative smart glasses that have practical applications for sports, health and wellness, entertainment and in the workplace. Interestingly, a growing number of them are from within our industry, as opposed to the first wave of smart glass companies, most of who came from the tech sector. That’s good news, since it means that the next generation of smart glasses will probably have better optics, will look better and be more comfortable. I saw ample evidence of this at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) last month in Las Vegas. A notable example is the collaboration between Intel and Oakley that will produce Radar Pace, a smart sunglass equipped with a voice-activated, real-time coaching system and is designed to provide runners, cyclists and workout enthusiasts with real-time feedback and analytics to track progress and improve performance. Zeiss debuted a prototype of its data glasses that look like stylish, everyday glasses and can be integrated into a broad variety of frames. Executives from VSP Global’s innovation lab, The Shop, which last March unveiled a prototype of a wearable device that integrates health-tracking technology into optical frames, also attended the show. The entry into the wearable tech sector by these players and others from the optical industry is a welcome development that is re-energizing the smart glass market. ECPs and optical retailers should take note. akarp@jobson.com