Warby Parker’s digital vision test lets users renew their glasses and contact lens prescriptions remotely

Eyewear company Warby Parker has updated its digital vision test app to now let users renew their glasses or contacts prescription. 

The company has clarified that the digital test isn’t a comprehensive eye exam and isn’t meant to replace eye doctor visits. 

The new version of the test, renamed the Virtual Vision Test, has users answer eligibility questions. If a user is a good fit, they will be asked to complete a five-minute eye exam while wearing their glasses and reading letters off of an eye chart on their phone. 

The exam is then reviewed by a doctor, and if eligible, the provider can renew the prescription. Warby Parker is charging $15 for the exam – if the prescription is renewed. 

Users will need an iPhone 6 or above, a current glasses or contact lens prescription and space to do the exam. The company said that the test is targeted towards adults with no eye conditions who can see well with their current prescription. 

WHY IT MATTERS 

The company is pitching this as a way to get prescriptions renewed remotely. Previous versions of Warby Parker’s vision exams only allowed users to get glasses prescriptions, this opened up the service to contact lenses. This opens up a new market for the company.

According to the CDC, approximately 45 million people in the U.S. wear contact lenses. The agency reports that the average age of contact lens wearers is 31-years old. 

THE LARGER TREND 

Warby Parker rolled out its Prescription Check, the first version of its ocular telehealth service in 2017. The tool was exclusively focused on prescription glasses at the time. 

But the company has periodically been updating its technology. In 2019, the company updated its consumer app with a new augmented reality feature that let users see how a pair of glasses would look on their face before buying. 

But Warby Parker’s move into digital exams hasn’t been all smooth sailing. In 2017, Opternative, a digital health company that offers an online refractive eye exam service to help consumers get prescriptions for glasses or contacts, sued Warby Parker alleging that Prescription Check was based on proprietary information and technology obtained from Opternative under a nondisclosure agreement.