Eyewear is one industry where 3D printing has made a strong impact. Now eyewear can be completely customized as per the needs of the user. From luxury glasses, smart glasses to glasses for athletes and outdoor activities; 3D printing has made the production of customized eyewear easy and accessible.

SEIKO Exchanger collection was launched by an association of Materialise, SEIKO Optical Europe, and Hoet Design Studio. This eyewear range is designed to fit the facial features and athletics needs. It received the Silmo D’or award in the Silmo fair 2015 in Paris. One pair of SEIKO Exchanger glasses has made news by traveling to the North Pole.

Dixie Dansercoer is an accomplished explorer who has made his way to the Arctic, Antarctic and undertaken many expeditions. He needs the perfect set of eyewear to combat the harsh weather conditions that could harm his eyes. Dansercoer has a high nose bridge which makes it difficult for conventional sunglasses to fit well on his face.

The 3D printed SEIKO sunglasses provided the perfect solution for the explorer’s problem. They were customized as per the needs of Dansercoer and provided the perfect fit and vision to him. Dansercoer said that due to his high nose bridge, traditional eyewear could not fit properly to his face. This left a gap in the lower section of the glasses. This gap paved way for albedo and radiation leading to potential harm to his eyes. The 3D printed glasses provided a solution to his problem.

Dansercoer’s face was scanned to get an accurate idea of his facial statistics. His features were then taken into account while making the perfect sunglasses for him. These sunglasses not only protect his eyes from the cruelties of nature, they have given their manufacturers immense acclaim by traveling to the North Pole.

Source: 3dprint.com