Getting caught out by fading light might sound like a minor inconvenience. For motorcyclist and optical sales rep Andrew Greene it proved to be a turning point that sparked a seven-year search for a solution that ended with the husband and wife team designing their own product and founding Lid Vision.
The day had started sunny so Andrew had opted for a tinted visor, as darkness fell he had to lift the visor. ‘Riding without anything protecting the eyes is really tough,’ says Andrew. Not wanting to get caught in the same situation again he decided to source some motorcycle specific eyewear. Despite both he and wife Michelle being in the eyewear business they were not aware of a suitable product so Andrew started to search.
‘When we got back I started looking online but the sort of thing we were finding just wasn’t suitable.’ Over the coming months trips to motor cycle shows, optical shows and forum discussions also proved fruitless. At this point Andrew, being emmetropic, was just looking for sunwear but what their search did reveal was a huge demand for all types of eyewear that could be worn under a motor cycle helmet. ‘What we found on that journey was that it wasn’t just me,’ says Andrew this was a problem for a big chunk of the 1.3m bikers in the UK.
Michelle says what can happen is that people buy minimalist eyewear in the hope that they can squeeze it under their helmet. ‘That process of squeezing it in is a nightmare,’ she says with many expensive frames ruined. She also says trips to bike shows proved the need for the product. The age profile of bikers is rising, meaning many wear spectacles, those who do not need correction tend to wear sunglasses.
Andrew accepts the strides made by motorcycle helmet makers to solve the issue around eyewear for bikers but he says the makers’ solution of creating grooves for spectacle sides to sit in doesn’t work. ‘We thought this is crazy, there has to be something,’ so started a three-year search. ‘We were perplexed that there was nothing out there that works and how many people had tried.’ The concept for Lid Vision was born (see box for details).
‘We spent many long nights fiddling around with small parts,’ says Andrew. The real lightbulb moment came when they realised that a ratchet mechanism could provide a way of steadying the eyewear, a problem which had dogged early designs. Once perfected the design was prototyped, engineering drawings made and patents applied for.
As frame reps, who understand the optical market, and dedicated bikers, who understand what the customer wants, Andrew and Michele saw the opportunity for a product that would solve the biker’s problems and create a useful revenue stream for optical practices. ‘The optical market is the main market because the aspect of corrective vision is by far the most important aspect of this,’ says Andrew. He also says it offers a great opportunity to sell a second, tinted pair. Michelle believes the market is ready for Lid Vision and says the idea has met with a universally positive response from bikers and the optical business. ‘This is a market that has never been tapped into before.’
With the UK patent now granted and the international patent set to go live in August Lid Vision is entering the next phase of development. The duo are continuing to talk to manufacturers and investors with a view to move to production. With the comfort of the patent in place they are now exploring options to license the idea to a manufacturer or develop the product themselves.
The Lid Vision prototype
Their experience of the eyewear business makes them conscious of the money required to do Lid Vision justice but their belief in, and passion for, Lid Vision is infectious. ‘It’s a matter of looking at all the options: head or heart,’ says Andrew. ‘The heart says it’s our baby and we want to be associated with all aspects. The head says we do not have the ability to get it out to the available marketplace.’ He says the scope for Lid Vision is any helmet wearer and is why the product’s name is not directly linked to motorcycles. In addition to the 1.3m motorcyclists, 450,000 of which are women, there are other motorsports, MoD and emergency services and pillion riders. This creates the possibility for myriad price points and styles ranging from plastic to carbon fibre and plain black to sparkly pinks and skull motifs. The options for the eyewear itself are endless.
Michelle and Andrew are hoping to bring Lid Vision to market ‘sooner rather than later’, but the jury is clearly still out on just how that will happen. While they suggest licensing the product may be the best route Michelle shares her design ideas for a female focused second phase of development and a branding strategy to expand the product’s appeal. Only time will tell if the head or the heart wins out.
What is Lid Vision?
Wearing spectacles under a helmet is a problem to which many solutions have been offered. Lid Vision works by connecting a traditional spectacle front to a full face helmet by the use of two articulating arms. The arrangement looks surprisingly simple with the arms connected to the inside of the visor. When the visor is down the spectacle front sits on the bridge and looks and feels like a regular pair of spectacles. When the visor is raised the arms keep the spectacle front in place.
Lid Vision’s secret is in the design of the arms which work to keep the eyewear in place but have a ratchet system which ensures no downward pressure is placed on the bridge when the visor is closed. When the helmet is removed the spectacle front is unclipped from the articulating arms and regular side arms snapped into place converting Lid Vision back into a regular piece of eyewear.
The articulating arms of Lid Vision are fixed to two ball joints which are glued in place as part of the spectacle fitting process within the optical practice. The arms snap onto the ball part of the joint which remains in place. The location of the fixings within the visor is pinpointed using a template and fixed with a specially developed glue. Lid Vision is suitable for most full-face helmets and its designers say once the fitter is familiar with the product it can be fitted without the need for a template.
Lid Vision founders Michelle and Andrew Greene are currently speaking with frame and lens manufacturers to look at developing new styles but also offering Lid Vision as a glazed package. The prototype uses a slightly wrapped square eyeshape but virtually any style or material could be used for the optical part or the articulating arms.