ieye teams with Sony Digital Imaging for eyewear shopping push

Swedish company, ieye, is tapping Sony technology as it looks to “refashion the traditional optics industry” with its network of pop-up eye testing kiosks. 

Placed in locations across shopping centres, supermarkets and pharmacies, ieye’s digitalised eye test takes five minutes, with glasses being delivered in ten days and costs said to be 80% cheaper than traditional optic services. 

With ieye’s use of Sony technology, customers can virtually try on hundreds of frames, selected specifically to suit them.

Once their full face image is captured via the Sony Alpha 7 Compact with a 50mm prime lens, it is analysed with facial tracking technology, using 145 face points including the nose base for precision frame fittings.

Facial tracking points determine the face size and shape, and hair tones are also analysed to match eyewear frame colour, shape and size with the end user’s features.

This data is then combined with information on the customer’s age, gender, country, and past purchases of people with the same profile to create a list of frame styles, colours, and sizes likely to suit them. 

Alexander Fällgren, COO at ieye, comments: “Providing an accurate, personalised, service doesn’t need to be a lengthy process. We want the whole ieye experience to be a slick operation and Sony’s precision technology is a huge part of that.”

“We produce around 500 images in 60 seconds which are then uploaded as a personalised online shop and sent to the customer’s mobile, making choosing your eyewear quick, convenient and fun.” 

Yasuo Baba, Director of Europe Digital Imaging at Sony, adds: “ieye is already disrupting the optics market with kiosks that can perform up to ten times more eye tests per day than traditional opticians.”

“Sony’s Camera Remote SDK is key to controlling the camera remotely, integrating ieye’s software into the kiosk and bringing the optics industry into the digital age.”