Try These ZEISS Online Tools Before you Buy your Next Glasses

^{Article first published: February 2022
Last update: February 2024}

Find the perfect pair of eyeglasses online. If you wear eyeglasses, this might sound like it’s too good to be true. Whilst it’s true that the Internet can be useful when you’re shopping around for a new pair of eyeglasses, it’s still essential to seek the expertise of an eye care professional. Ultimately, the perfect solution is a combination of online and offline assistance. In this article, we show your readers how they can use the Internet and expert eye care professionals to find a suitable pair of eyeglasses with a perfect fit, and above all, the best possible visual experience.

The first step is to take the ZEISS Online Vision Screening, which you can do from the comfort of your own home. This check is not intended to replace a professional eye exam or an in-depth vision analysis. However, it can provide important insights into your own eyesight and serve as a useful reference for your eye care professional. Ultimately, only your eye care professional is able to obtain all of the precise measurements that are needed to produce the right pair of eyeglasses.

The ZEISS Online Vision Screening allows you to check your eyesight free of charge online – even with a smartphone. This makes it easier for people to screen their vision and encourages consumers to monitor their eye health. Many people forget when it’s time for their next vision acuity test. As a rule of thumb, you should have your eyes checked every two years.

As an increasing number of consumers begin their buying journey online, it's important for eye care professionals to have a solution that can address this trend and successfully convert them to in-store customers. Therefore, they have the opportunity to integrate the ZEISS Online Vision Screening into their website and thus improve their online presence.

No two people have the same vision. Some people spend hours in front of screens each day, some only look at their smartphone while others have a job that involves working outdoors. Some people travel frequently by car, or work entirely from home. These actions have a direct impact on the challenges our eyes face and the eyeglasses we need. Today, lenses are developed based on modern lifestyles. Read this press release for example to discover how smartphones influence how we use our eyes and how ZEISS is incorporating these findings into new eyeglass lenses.

There are eyeglasses optimized for working with computer screens and driving, special coatings for digital work, and photochromic lenses for people who constantly move between indoors and outdoors. A visual profile can help you determine what kind of eyeglasses you need. The ZEISS "My Vision Profile" shows you what kind of eyeglasses are most suited for your needs. You can show the result to your eye care professional via a QR code as the starting point for an in-person consultation.

If you’ve ever tried on a new pair of eyeglasses online using a virtual ‘try-on’ function, you’ll probably have noticed that many of these functions are still very basic. The ZEISS Virtual Try-on, however, is different. After you’ve completed a vision acuity test with an eye care professional, they will generate a precise three-dimensional image (avatar) of your face. You can then ‘try on’ frames virtually on that avatar already in the store with ZEISS Virtual Try-on. The avatar is on the one hand designed to ensure that the eyeglasses are fitted correctly during the centration process and allows you on the other hand to try on frames at home. After logging into the app ZEISS Virtual Try-on @Home, you can try on perfectly fitted, individually recommended frames that your local expert offers with your avatar from the comfort of your sofa.

The frames are also scanned in 3D with a special technology developed by ZEISS. This ensures that the system only recommends frames that actually fit. Unlike with other providers, eyeglasses are not scaled to head size, but are displayed in their actual size. Even the smallest details, reflective surfaces or structures are visible, showing the frame in intricate detail on your own (digital) head.

Thanks to a ZEISS-programmed algorithm, frames are recommended based on facial features, head size, hair color and even eye color, as well as country-specific trends. This AI technology provides the answers to typical questions, such as:

• Which pair of eyeglasses suits me best?
• Which pair of eyeglasses matches my face?
• Which frame matches my eyes?
• Which frame is too big or too small?
• Which frame style is currently in fashion?

With thousands of frames on offer, these answers can provide considerable assistance to people who are searching for the right pair of eyeglasses. And best of all: over time, the AI will acquire even more information in order to provide better answers to these questions.

As the experiences of many online buyers demonstrate, an eye care professional is needed to ensure a perfect fit. However, thanks to cutting-edge technologies from ZEISS, it is now possible to try on eyeglasses at home in high resolution and order them online. The personal avatar is designed to be used in combination with a consultation from your local eye care professional. Once you've decided at home on a frame and lenses, you can collect them a few days later from your eye care professional and have them tested and adjusted to suit your own anatomy. Because the results from your professional vision acuity test are already connected to your avatar. After all, there’s one thing that should not be left to suffer in the digital age: the quality of our vision.

Interview about frame scanning

Interview about the avatar

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