Sep 26, 2016 | By Benedict
Fuel3D’s recently introduced 3D scanning mirror, developed in conjunction with eyewear tech company Sfered, will be used in eyewear stores to help customers order customized glasses with a perfect shape and fit. The 3D scanner collects facial data in just 0.1 seconds.
Purchasing eyewear can be a tricky business. First off, you have to find a style that suits you, your unique face shape, and your personality. Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, you have to make sure that the glasses really, truly fit. All too often people choose a pair of frames because they like the style, without realizing that they are too big or small, either across the nose, along the arms, or elsewhere. Ill-fitting glasses can cause discomfort to the head and ears, and can even affect vision. Custom eyewear would appear to propose a solution to badly fitting glasses, but what if you order a custom pair of specs and then realize that the frames don’t look right on your face? Faced with this problem, Fuel3D, the Oxford-based 3D scanning innovator, appears to have created the fairest solution of them all…
Fuel3D, the company behind the Scanify 3D scanner, has teamed up with eyewear technology company Sfered for its latest 3D scanning innovation, a mirror-based 3D scanning system designed to support the “deployment and fitting of custom eyewear.” For reasons a million miles from sheer vanity, the companies have incorporated the new system into a mirror, becoming the first in the eyewear sector to do so. According to Fuel3D and Sfered, merging their cutting-edge technology with a mirror produces immeasurable advantages for the customer.
“When people look into a mirror, they relax, straighten up and focus much more naturally than if they are looking into a camera, which means that the scanner collects more accurate data for custom eyewear fitting,” explained Peter Tutuarima, CEO of Sfered. “We have worked closely with the team at Fuel3D to bring this new scanning system to market and we are looking forward to demonstrating the benefits that next-generation facial scanning can bring to the custom fit process.”
The new 3D scanning system, which can be thought of as a kind of mirror of the future for eyewear retailers, is packed with useful features designed to give customers the perfect pair of specs. These features include highly accurate facial scanning that allows opticians to collect all metrics required for fitting of eyewear and production of custom fit eyewear in a single scan, and high speed 3D capture that collects facial data in 0.1 seconds, allowing data capture of pupillary distance, nose bridge width, facial width, and distance to ear.
As well as collecting key facial measurements for calculating the perfect frame size, the mirror-based 3D scanning system system will also provide access to a wide range of frame data held in Sfered’s frames database, allowing opticians to virtually fit frames to customers for an enhanced customer experience. This means that, although the frames will need to be made to order, each customer will know exactly how they will look on their face. An open platform will allow further frame manufacturers to upload their catalogs in 3D for virtual fitting of frames.
The first user of Fuel3D and Sfered’s new system is Danish eyewear designer monoqool, a company which specializes in 3D laser printed polyamide frames that are customized to the wearer. The Danish company brought the 3D scanning system to SILMO, the world’s foremost eyewear trade show, which wrapped up earlier today in Paris, the fashion capital of the world. “It is in our DNA to be innovative and this new scanning product can helps the whole eyewear industry to benefit from our innovation,” said Allan Petersen, CEO of monoqool. “Customized eyewear is a great tool for independent opticians and optometrists as they increasingly compete with the large chains.”
Back in May, Fuel3D announced that it had secured a €1.7M EU Horizon 2020 grant in order to develop a 270-degree 3D scanning eyewear solution. The company creates 3D scanning solutions for clients in a range of industries beyond eyewear, but with the eyewear sector projected to reach $165bn by 2022, the British company appears to be sharply focused on cracking the custom glasses market. “Our platform’s unparalleled speed of capture, combined with the collection of high resolution, color data makes this a perfect application for our technology,” commented Stuart Mead, CEO of Fuel3D.
The 180-degree 3D scanner is being tested in select optical retail locations in Europe over the summer period, and is expected to be commercially available by the end of 2016.
Posted in 3D Scanning
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