Marchon 3D Launches Line of 3D Clip-on Glasses for Spring

Marchon 3D is planning a staggered rollout of 3D-ready prescription glasses, the company said Monday. Marchon has been working on the designs for 18 months, testing them for “proof of science” prior to going into production with larger quantities, David Johnson, president of Marchon 3D, told Consumer Electronics Daily. The company hopes to have completed the test mode and to begin putting lenses in frames “and have people wear them,” by the end of May, he said. Testing is being handled by VSP Optics, Marchon’s contract lab partner.

The glasses “can be your everyday pair of glasses,” Johnson said, though the lens “can never get lighter than 40 percent light transmission,” leaving a constant gray tint. “In a work environment, they wouldn’t be all that practical,” he said. He compared them with sunglasses and other glasses consumers buy as secondary eyewear.

Pricing hasn’t been set. Johnson said there might be an “incremental” premium for the 3D compatibility, but “there won’t be sticker shock.” The “staged distribution schedule” will begin on the West Coast within proximity of the entertainment industry and VSP Labs, which will train technicians in other locations on implementation and manufacture of 3D eyewear. He said there would likely be facilities on the East Coast, in the Southeast, Midwest and Mountain states’ region. The time element for making 3D prescription glasses should be the same as standard prescription lenses and no additional machinery or mechanical work is required, he said.

Polarizers and films to decode the 3D images are layered on the front of the lenses, he said. Prescription lenses are added using “free-form surfacing,” a method that digitally positions the prescription on the interior of the lens, he said. The materials that decode the content on the front “are never touched,” he said.

Although panel members at the American Optometric Association meeting in New York last week suggested prescription 3D lenses were technically possible, Johnson told us “contact lenses are not in our plans of development at this moment” and “very problematic.” The various types of contact lenses -- including soft and disposable -- and the round shape make them difficult for 3D use, he said. “In order to decode the 3D content, the angles of retardation in each eye has to be at a very specific level,” he said. To measure that and put that in someone’s eye is very difficult, and the retarder and the polarizer film that decode the content would be immensely difficult to put in a contact lens system,” he said.

Marchon’s 3D prescription glasses will be compatible with all passive 3D systems, Johnson said. That excludes Xpand theaters that use active technology; Dolby theaters, which use an incompatible glass-based color system; and IMAX theaters, which use linear polarization that doesn’t work with the circular polarization method. Johnson said RealD and Masterimage passive 3D systems account for roughly 75 percent of all theaters worldwide and are the “dominant” venue in the U.S.

Those prescription lens wearers who won’t benefit from the 3D lens solution include people with astigmatisms, with some levels of color-blindness or with “unusual eye conditions,” but the percentage of prescription lens users who should be able to see 3D with the lenses is “above 90 percent,” Johnson said. The company plans to offer single-focal 3D lens solutions for multi-focal prescription lens wearers as a cost-saving option, he said.

Regarding marketing of 3D prescription glasses, Johnson said, there’s been “some talk about running pre-movie commercials” 15 minutes before a movie. “It’s very possible there will be something about running to the local eye doctor” for 3D prescription glasses, he said. Johnson downplayed the idea of a coupon program tied into a 3D theater. “Coupons are usually related to lower priced redemption products,” a strategy that might work with non-prescription glasses, he said. With prescription 3D glasses, “this is eye care so it’s hard to do that.” He said VSP Labs, with 27,000 customers, is expected to do “some reach out with pricing benefit to encourage someone to add the 3D element.” He said Marchon is also looking at marketing opportunities with makers of passive 3D TV systems. Johnson wouldn’t comment on sales forecasts for prescription 3D glasses, but said there’s been “substantive interest” from the medical and optical communities.

Marchon also launched a 3D magnetic clip system called Ultraclips, a lower-cost 3D glasses solution for prescription lens wearers. Marchon is offering six styles of Ultraclips matched with polarized M3D lenses that have micro-magnets soldered directly onto the clips. Wholesale prices of the Ultraclips, to be available this spring, are $99-$104 for the Autoflex 3D frame package with clip and frame and $84.95 for the Nautica package. Retail prices weren’t available at our deadline.

According to Marchon, users can effectively wear their 3D glasses as sunglasses, a claim an American Optometric member took issue with at a panel last week. Michael Duenas, associate director of health sciences and policy at the American Optometric Association, said at the panel in New York (CED March 21 p6): “With 3D polarized and circular polarized lenses, there’s a difference between what you'd need for sunglasses outside and what you'd need in the theater.” Polarized lenses used in sunglasses use horizontal and vertical polarization, which eliminate glare that comes off of bright surfaces, he said. “You're going to see some companies say you can use circular polarized lenses outside, but they're not going to work as good as those designed specifically for sun wear."

Johnson of Marchon told us, “I think we have some areas of disagreement.” Citing Duenas’ reference that traditional linear polarized lenses block glare, and that circular polarized lenses [those used for 3D] don’t, he said, Marchon’s polarized 3D glasses “certainly have all the protection … of any normal pair of sunglasses.” He added, “If you're looking for polarized lenses that block glare, [circular polarized lenses] won’t work. That’s correct.”