The future's already being printed

Further to my previous post on the possibility of 3D printed glasses, I've unearthed some companies already doing it and a growing trend for this in the Fashion industry.

In February 2012's Fashion Week there was a display by a designer called Asher Levine. Can you guess what he was showing?



Absolutely correct! Asher Levine was showing off 3D printed glasses, printed using a £900 home-kit 3D printer called MakerBot. Looking on MakerBot's public resource area a number of designs for spectacles are already freely available, including supra frames.

Now, whilst I haven't yet gotten my hands on a 3D printer I can't vouch for the quality of these frames, however, they are evidently glazeable.

Furthermore, I've managed to find two companies that are offering bespoke 3D printed frames already. The San Francisco based OYO Glasses, currently in beta, was meant to be launching early this year, not too much information was available on their site as to a re-arranged launch date.

Make Eyewear are located in Texas and they are a much more fully fledged operation. They offer both stock designs and a bespoke service, including a virtual fitting room system.

The future is evidently here, are we as a profession going to embrace it or miss the boat like the vast majority did online sales? Should all online sales of spectacles be legislated against too?