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Seems like a big downside. Over half of people in most countries wear either glasses or contact lenses, so many people need custom lenses + taking off contact lenses just to use a device seems like a huge barrier for a company that claims its products 'just work'.

They 'just work' *

* If you get your eyes measured and order separately sold lenses, which you need to swap out if a different family member wants to use the vision pro. Also if you wear hard contacts, you need to remove those and get lenses made as well.
the soft contact lenses the vast majority of people use isnt the problem, it's the hard glass contact lenses that arent super common anymore (but still common enough that this will affect enough folks for the note FWIW) that are the issue
 
For other people here who have keratoconus or high levels of astigmatism, you can find out if Zeiss optical inserts are available for your prescription here: https://www.zeiss.com/vision-care/us/zeiss-optical-inserts.html

It was disappointing that Apple didn't have this link/information available through the Apple Vision Pro page.

It was even more disappointing to see that the prescription for Sph maxes out at -4.50 (even less for higher Cyl prescriptions) so pretty much anyone with moderate or progressed keratoconus can't get even optical inserts.
Thanks. I have an eye exam on the 30th. I plan to try them with my contacts and check if I can get the inserts.
 
I have an eye condition (keratinous) where i need to wear hard contacts to see properly.. so this is sad to hear
I have an eye condition (keratinous) where i need to wear hard contacts to see properly.. so this is sad to hear
Yeah same here. It’s disappointing for sure. What I don’t get those is the help
Page says you can use without eye tracking, so maybe there is hope for us.
 
Once you wear large diameter hard contact lenses it’s hard to go back to soft lenses, the clarity is crazy. My last pair lasted 13 years so it was worth the investment.
 
I went ahead and ordered one even though I wear a scleral lens on my right eye. Fingers crossed that it works fine.

I had skin cancer in my right upper and lower eyelid and had to have both removed and rebuilt. As the skin under your eyelids is unique they were not ale to graft in any skin from anywhere else that does not irritate my eye to the point where i just keep it closed. I no longer have the glands that keep your eye wet so regular soft lenses just fall out after a few minutes.
 
I have an eye condition (keratinous) where i need to wear hard contacts to see properly.. so this is sad to hear
So I did research on this hard contacts move more than soft contacts for people like us with this condition we have scleral lenses which do not move so in theory it shouldn't impact the experience
 
Yeah same here. It’s disappointing for sure. What I don’t get those is the help
Page says you can use without eye tracking, so maybe there is hope for us.
So I did research on this hard contacts move more than soft contacts for people like us with this condition we have scleral lenses which do not move so in theory it shouldn't impact the experience
 
So I did research on this hard contacts move more than soft contacts for people like us with this condition we have scleral lenses which do not move so in theory it shouldn't impact the experience
If it were just the RGP lenses they prob would have called that out, I bet its something with the hard plastic material is my guess.
 
To expand my thesis on this.
If it were just the RGP lenses they prob would have called that out, I bet its something with the hard plastic material is my guess.
No because Standard RGP Lenses dominate the market, From an Iris visibility standpoint there should be no difference between hard and soft both should be clear, I can't find a resource that discusses the external visibility from outside the person wearing them.

Hybrid contact lenses are treated as soft in apples questionarre https://www.westoncontactlens.com/4-benefits-of-hybrid-lenses/ as per this they also do not move around.

Hence why I suspect it has to do with the actual lens moving around vs the material differences.

I also just asked chatgpt for what its worth

"As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, gas permeable (GP) lenses, also known as rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses, were more common and widely used compared to scleral lenses. Traditional GP lenses are smaller in diameter and rest on the cornea, providing clear vision for various vision correction needs."

"Scleral lenses, being larger gas permeable lenses that cover the entire cornea and part of the sclera, are generally less noticeable to others compared to typical soft contact lenses. The larger size of scleral lenses means that their edges are often hidden by the sclera (the white part of the eye), making them less apparent."
 
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To expand my thesis on this.

No because Standard RGP Lenses dominate the market, From an Iris visibility standpoint there should be no difference between hard and soft both should be clear, I can't find a resource that discusses the external visibility from outside the person wearing them.

Hybrid contact lenses are treated as soft in apples questionarre https://www.westoncontactlens.com/4-benefits-of-hybrid-lenses/ as per this they also do not move around.

Hence why I suspect it has to do with the actual lens moving around vs the material differences.

I also just asked chatgpt for what its worth

"As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, gas permeable (GP) lenses, also known as rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses, were more common and widely used compared to scleral lenses. Traditional GP lenses are smaller in diameter and rest on the cornea, providing clear vision for various vision correction needs."

"Scleral lenses, being larger gas permeable lenses that cover the entire cornea and part of the sclera, are generally less noticeable to others compared to typical soft contact lenses. The larger size of scleral lenses means that their edges are often hidden by the sclera (the white part of the eye), making them less apparent."
I think you're right. RGP tend to move around a little bit as you move your eye around. I imagine that'd be a challenge for eye tracking and could 'jerk' the eye tracker around a little bit, making a slightly sub-optimal experience. I still think you can compensate using software, so this may well be something further down on the backlog for Apple to solve.
 
I would hold off on any orders if you wear glasses or contacts. Just wait for the reviews to come out and decided what to do. If other headsets accommodate glasses (even if this is not authorized), then make your decision at that time.


For what it’s worth I am a big fan of Zeiss lenses but they are expensive. Like 1000USD for nearsightedness/ astigmatism/ presbyopia like I have. The fix is to laser your eyes and my sister had this done 20 years ago and loves it.


I code on my phone and all sorts of that stuff, even punching this out on my phone now, I don’t need or have my glasses on so this is how I like it. If this niche is real and useful I’d just buy the lenses. Break one and you get two for the cost of one as they alway update the glass, and they fly it in from Germany! The cost of the lenses seems too inexpensive BTW according to Apple - unless they are subsidizing some of it secretly.


Also, the HD glass they have turns the usual thick prescriptions into super thin lenses - so good for headsets and glasses if you still do that.
 
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I dunno, the cons against the AVP are definitely ramping up lately and outweighing the pros.
Are you speaking from the perspective of target buyers in general or only from the perspective of people with hard contact lenses? It seems like you mean in general, but that would be a very odd take. It’s not a con for the main intended users. It’s a limitation of who are the main intended users. Eg. no one with vision says I’m not going to buy a car because blind people can’t drive them. That limitation has no bearing on the people who are the intended users. Something like weight on the other hand affects everyone, so that is a con that all intended users have to decide if they want to deal with or not.
That said, hopefully the tech will improve to allow hard contact lenses in the near future, so that those people can be included.
 
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