A London sports eyewear company has developed a prescription insert for motorcycle visors which it claimed was a world first that would improve road safety.
Oracle Eye Centre developed its prescription visor system following requests from customers and after its founder, ophthalmologist Susie Sarangapani, realised there were no helmet-based correction systems on the market.
A translucent frame is clipped into the rear side of the visor using two fixing points at either side of the visor. The two clips remain attached to the visor while the frame can be removed as necessary. The first versions are designed to work with the 10 most popular helmet patterns. It will initially serve a correction range of -4 to + 4D of spherical correction and 2D of cylinder. It will be available from spring 2011 and Oracle is looking to retail it via independent practices.
Sarangapani said initially glazing would be fulfilled by Oracle but in time there was no reason why the product should not be glazed in the normal way. All that was required was the patient's prescription and some further measurements to account for the distance of the lens from the eye.
Oracle has already chosen a suitable polycarbonate lens to use with the frame and is in discussions with a prescription lab to carry out manufacturing.
Oracle said around 80 per cent of the 1.4 million motorcyclists used prescription eyewear and Sarangapani estimated that around 20-30 per cent could be riding with no correction.