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Google Glass has released four prescription models, answering the fashion world's prayers that wearable tech be something the stylistically-inclined actually considers "wearable." Covering the largest bases for the product, frames now come in hipster glasses, rounded hipster glasses, nerdy techy glasses, and thinner nerdy techy glasses (Disclaimer: These are non-official names). Unlike the tortoise-shell glasses that Isabelle Olsson, the project's lead designer, created for a member of the Glass team, the four frames are each made out of light titanium because the computing device is apparently quite heavy.
Olsson played up the "natural"-ness of the frames in an interview with WWD, saying, "We're making it a more natural part of your life. [Wearing Glass] will be easier with this, plus you have more choices. It's a very natural extension of things that you already wear. For some people, this will come even more naturally than the regular [Glass]."
The New York Times reports that the prescription frames were made possible by a subsidy provided by VSP, the biggest optical health insurance provider in the US. Still, all told, the actual Glass will cost $1,500 for people invited to buy the current version (which you can sign up for here), the frames will be $225, and the sunglasses add-on will be $150. VSP will reimburse members $120 on average for the frames only based on their prescription plan. While the full cost is still quite a hunk of change, users invited to purchase the Glass device now will pay "several hundred dollars less" than the consumer version coming out later this year.
· 5 Gizmos That Forecast the Stylish Future of Wearable Tech [Racked]
· Here's the Cute Version of Google Glass [Racked]
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