Ask HN: Prescription glasses which optimize function over fashion
Traditional glasses appear to prioritize looks over function. I am not a professional optician, but I imagine a pair of glasses which optimize function over form to meet at least some of the following criteria:
- Large lens to maximize field-of-view
- Cup-shaped lens to optimize distance from eye at all angles
- Thin shafts to enable lying in bed and using headphones
- Minimal sized frame (although should be mostly outside of field-of-view anyway)
- Light
Are there are any such glasses available? Is my assessment wrong?
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Unusually strong prescriptions sometimes have to be special-ordered because they aren't kept in stock, but AFAIK they're still not custom-ground. Or at least they're still machine-ground from standard blanks.
If you want a lens with unusual curvature, you'd need to start with a blank that supports that curvature - which may not exist. And the grinding machines may also be unable to work with that curvature (hand-grinding, besides being immensely more expensive, will be less consistent in its result).
And then you'll have the problem of fitting the lens securely into a frame that's designed for one with lesser curvature. Heck, even my (moderate prescription) sunglasses suffer from poor lens fit.
I'm not saying it can't be done; just that there are a lot of obstacles to what you're looking for.
I like a large lens in that I get a wide field of view. I have a very strong prescription, thus large lenses curve through a lot of solid angle, thus no matter what angle you look at me from there is a strong reflection that obscures my eyes. It makes me feel like I am one of those anime characters whose eyes are hidden behind spiral lines. I think it is more than cosmetic, because it impairs people reading my emotional expressions.
When I go hiking with thin glasses, however, I end up craning my neck down so I can see what is going on in front of my feet. That makes my neck hurt.