Check out my digital specs.
Warby Parker
Buying glasses online is kind of a pain, since finding the right fit using photos doesn’t work a lot of the time.
Warby Parker thinks it came up with a better way, rolling out a new feature Monday on its app called Virtual Try-On. The feature uses an iPhone’s augmented-reality capabilities and selfie camera to slap a digital pair of specs on your face.
The company, which helped pioneer online glasses shopping, is part of a growing set of e-retailers who are using augmented reality to improve the online shopping experience and take the guesswork out of certain purchases. Wayfair and Amazon already use AR in their apps to help people test out the look of furniture in their homes before buying. Others, like the startup Obsess, can create virtual boutiques in your living room using your phone’s camera.
Warby Parker said it uses Apple’s ARKIt augmented-reality software and TrueDepth camera tech with its own mix of software to power Virtual Try-On. It claims the feature can offer accurate measurements of a frame, as well as its color and texture, on your three-dimensional face.
The feature is only available for iPhone X, XR and XS.
Similar, though less sophisticated, features already existed from online glasses sellers. For example, Zenni Optical lets you download a picture of your face to its website to try on frames.
Warby Parker also offers physical stores in the US and Canada and created Home Try-On, sending you five frames via mail to test out.