Oakley Prizm Sunglasses
It’s not often you see something as simple as lenses for sunglasses being worked on for 15 years at a time. It certainly made me wonder what type of technology is so advanced that it has taken that long to accomplish, but after having a look at the Oakley Prizm lenses I was quite surprised at what I found.
At first glance the Oakley Prizm lenses may look like just another tinted lens, but what it does is far more complex! Prizm lenses use advanced technology to block out certain spectrums of colour. In laymen’s terms, it lets in the good light, and blocks the bad light, creating a light spectrum that is easier on the eyes, requires less eye adjustment and provides more contrast and clarity.
What Is Prizm Technology?
Unlike most sunglasses where they absorb large parts of light spectrum, Oakley Prizm sunglasses absorb only small portions of the unwanted spectrum. Because of this, each lens is designed for specific environments, for instance the Prizm Snow range is designed for bright white environments with green surroundings. This particular range of lenses is used by skiers and snowboarders to allow them to see subtle changes in stark snowy environments that would otherwise be invisible to them, giving them greater visual clarity and contrast.
There are a whole range of Oakley Prizm lenses available, each one dedicated to a specific environment and designed to enhance your visual contrast in that environment. To achieve this effect, Oakley started by using hyper spectral cameras to measure the entire spectrum of light in different settings. Once they had this data, they began to analyse and define patterns in specific conditions, thereby discovering spectral peaks in certain locations which needed to be blocked.
Instead of having a broad swing at allowing in or blocking certain light spectrums they began to focus more directly on the exact colours they either want to allow in or block. Oakley Prism lenses filter these spectral peaks to provide better clarity in specific environments. Where normal sunglasses absorb large parts of spectrum, Prizm lenses absorb only small portions of the unwanted spectrums of light, creating a much more customised and effective visual experience.
Oakley Lenses & Eye Health
The whole idea behind this Prizm technology was to tailor lenses to the light environments that athletes are looking at, improve the contrast and in the long run – better protect the eyes. Oakley Prizm lenses are available in three different shades, each tailor-made for specific settings, and they are Black Iridium for bright sunlit environments, Jade Iridium for partly cloudy days and Rose for overcast conditions.
And in keeping with Oakley’s top quality products, the Prizm lenses also come standard with advanced backside anti fog coating and front side hard coating for scratch resistance. Essentially everything that has gone into the design and manufacture of Oakley Prizm lenses lends itself to protecting your eyes as best they can be. These lenses were obviously created for sporting enthusiasts in mind, but the way I look at it is – it doesn’t matter if you are gunning down the mountain on a snowboard or slowly hiking the hilltops with your family, your eyes need protection in harsh environments.
EyeQ stocks the Oakley Prizm sunglasses in all our stores and also provide support for Prizm lens repairs, so if you are interested in finding out more, getting yourself a pair or finding a place that can repair Oakley Prizm lenses, feel free to contact your local EyeQ store and chat with one of our skilled optometrists.
