The Mighty Hunter strode over rivers and deserts, and, yea, the gulfs of the oceans were as nothing to him, neither were the birds of the air beyond his reach. His eyes saw almost all, his ears heard almost all, and he knew he did the Lord’s work, for, yes verily, he was a mighty hunter of the Lord.
Now it so happened that with the fullness of time the Hunter decided that his weapons, great as they were, were no longer enough to do the Lord’s work: he needed more weapons, because his quarry were getting bigger and more muscular. No longer were they mere hyaenas and wolves; nay, verily, with his weapons he had to hunt down tigers and lions and sometimes gorillas besides.
So Jingo the Mighty Hunter of the Lord had himself made a Gun; not a gun merely large enough to dispatch lions and cape buffalo; but a Gun of Guns, capable of dispatching rhinoceroses and even the mighty elephant, for the Hunter of the Lord knew not when the Lord would send him to remove the Elephant and his tyranny over bird and beast from the surface of the earth.
But then it so happened that the Lord sent the Hunter to fight something far different: a plague of rats, which swarmed over there little patch of country, where nothing grew and where nobody else wished to live. Jingo the Hunter came to that land with his cape of stars and his great Elephant Gun, his mind already busy with the mightier Guns he would build in the future, to destroy ever larger beasts that were the enemies of the Lord; machinery to make machine elephant guns firing patriot missiles, and more. And with his elephant gun he laid waste to the land of the Rats, and sent them scurrying back into their burrows.
But then rats old and young, big and small, stuck their heads from their burrows and said to each other, “Brothers and sisters, this Hunter is standing on our land, and his mighty weapon is slung over his shoulder, and can kill us with ease; but he is one, and we are many, we have nothing to lose but our little lives, and we have right on our side, for he standeth on our ground.”
And the rats big and small came out of their holes and began biting and scratching at the Mighty Hunter, for all that he was so big, and they were so tiny. And the Hunter laughed and took his Elephant Gun and blasted away at them, and, verily, with each blast he laid one or two rats low.
But the rats were many, and the gun heavy and clumsy its bullets big and few, and the rats could scurry faster than it could turn; and they came in their thousands with their sharp teeth and long grey tails, and they made the Hunter’s blood flow grievously indeed.
And the Hunter said, “Lord, I need more and bigger guns to defeat these rats, for my Gun can only kill a few, and there are many of them, and I am close to being overcome.”
And saith the Lord in reply, “My Son, verily I say to thee most solemnly, thy Elephant Gun is for killing Elephants, but thou needest a rat gun instead.” But the Hunter would not listen, and he set himself to making a Gun of Guns, capable of destroying Enemies large as worlds themselves.
And meanwhile the Elephant gun blasted away, and the rats swarmed over the Cloak of Stars, and ripped it away, and they ate Jingo the Hunter to the bone.
3D printed eye-wear is not a new concept, some talented designers have been pushing the boundaries in terms of original, stylized eyewear. Just some of the notable developments include Protos, Mykita, and Hoet’s metal eyewear. There is also separate developments on actual 3D printing of the optics, the lenses, by a clear leader in this field, LuXeXcel.
However, while all of these developments are significant, they are not necessarily applicable, or accessible to the millions of people that wear glasses out of necessity — or choice.
The latest 3D printing start-up in the area of eye-wear is looking to change that. Eyewear Kit is a new, inclusive, platform that aims to make it easy for anyone to source, and personalize, their own 3D printed eyewear — whether for prescription glasses, normal sunglasses or just as a fashion statement. The platform brings all of the necessary components together — 3D printed frames, lenses and customization.
At launch, there is an initial collection of designer frames, from Michiel Cornelissen, who is renowned for his work with 3D printing and understanding the processes and how to design for them. There are currently three designs:
As an example of Michiel’s experience in designing for 3D printing, the Hatch frames feature an intricate latticework that makes these glasses incredibly lightweight — and unmanufacturable using any other production method. According to Michiel: “They look like no eyewear you’ve ever seen.” What is more, the hinges are printed directly, so there is no assembly required for the legs. These ‘smart hinges’ fix themselves in position when the glasses are opened.
The premise behind Eyewear Kit is that you can select the 3D printed frames of your choice and determine your own colour (breadth of colours depend on choice of fulfillment service selected and, as you would expect, prices vary accordingly). From there users can then select their lenses of choice. Here there is a wide range on offer in terms of sun protection, full prescription, reading glasses, fun colour tints and more. Prices do vary again, but nothing (with the frames or lenses) that would cause you to raise an eyebrow, even compared with a walk-in optician’s outlet. This is what makes this platform so accessible. The site is easy to navigate, all options are clear and varied and user engagement is almost guaranteed once there.
While Michiel was invited to design the inaugural collection of frames, Eyewear Kit has opened up its platform to invite any designers to become involved with this new paradigm for retailing original eye-wear. They are encouraged to submit their 3D files to make them available via the site and share the rewards.
For me, while choice in styles is somewhat limited, this is a shift towards a more inclusive consumer 3D printing experience, and one that currently benefits from the talent of one of my favourite 3D printing designers.