First Sight’s Robert K. Patton (l), and Priti Patel, OD (c), join National Vision’s Bruce Steffey for the Future of Eyewear Summit.
National Vision opened its first Eyeglass World store in Vista, Calif. on June 18.
SAN DIEGO—A small team of smart glass developers met with National Vision and Rochester Optical here on June 19 to discuss the future of eyewear and how they can work together to bring this new technology into the mainstream.

“The goal of our gathering today is to share with our smart glasses device partners what we are capable of and support them in their drive to reach customers,” said Stuart Jolly, director of merchandizing for wearable technology, National Vision. Speaking directly to the device reps, he said, “We are aligned with your business and want to be the ‘go to’ place for smart glasses.”

Smart glass representatives from Recon, Vuzix and Epson, joined First Sight doctors Priti Patel, OD, First Sight president and CEO Robert K. Patton, Rochester Optical owner Patrick Ho, and National Vision president, Bruce Steffey, to discuss a complete smart glass solution that involves a smart glass device, software solutions, prescription lenses and distribution.

“There are barriers to the adoption of this technology—vision correction and safety eyewear, being two of these barriers,” explained Ho. “There are going to be vision problems due to the position of the hardware. Also, for business applications, we will need to provide safety glasses as part of the complete package.

“We play a part in removing those barriers. National Vision is the final missing piece in providing a complete solution to the end user by offering a national retail distribution network that can provide the Rx and safety eyewear solutions they need. The circle is now complete.”

Ho stated that consumer adoption of smart glasses is coming. About one million smart watches will ship worldwide in 2015, up 250 percent from 2014, according to Ho. The next step after smart watches will be smart eyewear, providing hands-free access to data and communication tools, he said. “The optical industry needs to wake up,” said National Vision’s Steffey. “We absolutely believe that the future of eyewear will be smart glasses. With two out of three adults needing vision correction, here’s where we come in. We want to provide an end-to-end solution for wearable smart glasses.”

To that end, National Vision plans on opening seven more Eyeglass World locations in San Diego, all with smart glass technology centers within each store. The first store was opened in Vista, Calif. on June 18. The company intends to open 20 new stores per year.

“By the end of the year 2020, our goal is to have a National Vision store within 30 miles of 85 percent of the U.S. population,” explained Jolly. “We’ve opened 391 stores since 2006.”

National Vision stores include Eyeglass World, Vision Centers now in 227 Walmarts, and 48 Optical Centers located on military bases.

“If you want to be involved in the future of eyewear,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix, “then you’ll need to be involved in smart glasses. It’s all about hands-free information.”