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Eyeglass Prescription Barcodes

 Encode Eyeglass Perscriptions Directly on Your Lenses Frames
  (+6)
(+6) 		  [vote for,
against]

I need new glasses because I bent the frames. Since I got my glasses in another city, I have to get a new eye exam to get the glasses from a new store. Why can't glasses manufacturers encode the prescriptions on the lenses themselves? Of course the code would be etched in a place not visible to the eye - say behind the nosepiece. If they are "frameless" you could print the code on the inside of the earpiece. Aside from needing a new exam periodically since perscriptions change and doctors losing money on new exams, what are the downsides/obstacles for doing this?
—marc1919, Dec 02 2004

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       Worsening eyesight (changing prescriptions) shouldn't be a reason not to do this. As long as you've had an exam in the last 18 months or so, your vision probably hasn't degraded that much. I think this idea is great, but may be better if used regular numbers - - barcodes require high differential reflectivity which etched glass/plastic might not provide. Regular numbers would work, as you'd only need "-1.75" per lens, for example. [+]
—contracts, Dec 02 2004
   

       Or you could call your old eyeglass place and have them send your prescription.
—yabba do yabba dabba, Dec 02 2004
   

       Or an RFID chip embedded in the frame.....
—ceruleanbill, Dec 02 2004
   

       [jurist] Aha! That explains why the number "0751001030" keeps running through my head when I'm wearing these glasses. Damn these subliminals...
—ian_mackereth, Dec 03 2004
   

       You'd need to make sure the barcode wasn't visible fromt he front of the glasses, or you might end up buying them again and again whenever you stand too close to the supermarket checkout scanner. (I now wish I'd never got that washing powder barcode tattoo on my forehead, I can tell you!)
—ian_mackereth, Dec 03 2004
   

       They give me a piece of paper with my prescription on it, with I file. But then I'm organized. However, generally they tend to file that same information in case I need to refer to it later. Could just be the place I go to though.   

       Question. If the only use for this when glasses are broken or lost, is the best solution really to write/encode information on the thing being broken or lost?
—Worldgineer, Dec 03 2004
   

       I thought it was a simple procedure to directly examine the lens characteristic. I've had a quick eye test done in a new place and the sales staff confirm "Hmmm... no change". They could only know that by testing the lenses, since I gave them no other information.
—Ling, Dec 03 2004
   

       Well, I went for a new eye exam and mentioned the idea to the technician. Her response was that most lenses are ground/polished in a single process, it would be exceedingly difficult to etch a number in the lens itself. I'm sure that the Halfbakery crowd could come up with thousands of ways to prove her wrong - but that is outside the scope of this idea. I was simply interested in having some method to take a prescription to any number of lens makers in order to make an exact copy of that prescription. She saw no business or economic reason why they shouldn’t do this already. Of course the low tech way that is already "good enough" is to carry your prescription with you - but that just doesn't seem as efficient as putting an industry standard code on the item in question. It really boils down to the consumer (me in this case) having a simple method to take glasses in to a shop (or website) different from the one original prescription came from and having the new lenses put in a new frame.
—marc1919, Dec 06 2004
   

       (OT) What is "washing powder"?
—absterge, Dec 07 2004
   


 

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