Prescription lens inserts: Info & Questions

[fs454]

As an aside, I'm having optics related issues that may actually lead me to return this thing. My RX (that works perfectly fine in Quest 3 with Zenni Optical inserts) doesn't seem to allow me to *always* get razor sharp on the displays and causes eye strain trying to get there. Sometimes if I fidget with the headset and push it to one side or another, or at the very beginning of the day when I'm fresh and well hydrated, I can get 100% crisp displays but looking back at the last three days it's been a struggle more than I would hope a $3500 product to offer. After my first couple hours with it, it gets harder and harder to maintain a perfectly crisp view. I don't have this experience in the Quest.

I have an adjusted RX that I just ordered a second set of $150 Zeiss inserts for, but due to the abysmal logistics on these (and the lack of in-store dispensing like many eyeglasses stores can do), any new lenses come on a slow boat from China and I won't have the updated one until 2/14, so I'll burn the entire return window waiting for lenses that may or may not solve the issue.

I put my Quest 3 back on for reference and man, I hate to say it but it's a breath of fresh air. The optics and displays are a hundred times easier on your eyes, the lenses are bigger and the setup offers expansive FOV in both directions that beats the AVP. The FOV I can forgive, but how on earth did Apple spend all this time and R&D and come up with a $3500 product with optics that are harder on the user's eyes than a $500 Quest 3?

I then took my Quest 3's $60 Zenni optical inserts (that have the same RX as my current Zeiss inserts) out and taped them in my AVP, as I'm now stuck waiting 10 days for a solution and I'm trying to experiment and troubleshoot:

The weird part is these $60 quest 3 lenses seem to offer a slightly closer to 100% experience than the $150 Zeiss ones, with the same RX: a weak -1.25 in both eyes.

This is now quickly turning into a reason to return the AVP and I hate that because the software and navigation is so nice. I really feel like the optics are janky and it's screwing with my eyes.

 

[nfl46]

The times are improving.

My prescription was accepted within 10 minutes on Sunday afternoon, shipped on Monday and estimated to be delivered this week.

 

[fs454]

The times are improving.

My prescription was accepted within 10 minutes on Sunday afternoon, shipped on Monday and estimated to be delivered this week.

Mine was accepted within 10 minutes yesterday morning but did not ship and it's now 11am Tuesday. Did your Apple delivery estimate go from a really far out estimate to a sooner date?

 

[mloiterman]

For what it's worth, I have a different prescriptions for each eye and wear progressives. So I have four different numbers: OD SPH, OD CYL, OS SPH, OS CYL. Further, I have an OS Axis, but no OD Axis. I'm not aware of any problems with my prescription or issues Zeiss had making it.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

For what it's worth, I have a different prescriptions for each eye and wear progressives. So I have four different numbers: OD SPH, OD CYL, OS SPH, OS CYL. Further, I have an OS Axis, but no OD Axis. I'm not aware of any problems with my prescription or issues Zeiss had making it.

I doubt you’ll have any issues getting them made but I can only get them to work on the right eye.

 

[upthespurs]

Mine was accepted within 10 minutes yesterday morning but did not ship and it's now 11am Tuesday. Did your Apple delivery estimate go from a really far out estimate to a sooner date?

mine shipped Monday and is stuck in customs, was meant to be delivered today, then tomorrow and now no date is given. Rather annoying.

 

[nfl46]

Mine was accepted within 10 minutes yesterday morning but did not ship and it's now 11am Tuesday. Did your Apple delivery estimate go from a really far out estimate to a sooner date?

Originally the date said Feb 12-14 when I placed the order on Sunday afternoon.

 

[mloiterman]

I doubt you’ll have any issues getting them made but I can only get them to work on the right eye.

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying you've got the inserts, they're in your vision pro, but the device only recognizes the right one?

 

[Night Spring]

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying you've got the inserts, they're in your vision pro, but the device only recognizes the right one?

The way I understand this is, VP needs to do some sort of lens adjustment to work with a prescription insert. But if you have different prescriptions for your right and left eyes, it does the same adjustment for BOTH eyes. So the VP lenses are going to be properly adjusted for only one of your eyes, and the other eye isn't going to work. It'd be the same as wearing a non-fitting lens in front of that eye.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

The way I understand this is, VP needs to do some sort of lens adjustment to work with a prescription insert. But if you have different prescriptions for your right and left eyes, it does the same adjustment for BOTH eyes. So the VP lenses are going to be properly adjusted for only one of your eyes, and the other eye isn't going to work. It'd be the same as wearing a non-fitting lens in front of that eye.

Perfectly stated. This is me and this is how the $150 Zeiss RX lenses work. My right eye prescription is perfect. My left eye prescription is basically 8-bit fonts in a 4K world. I had to use accessibility feature to disable eye tracking on left eye as the only thing I can see out of is right lens.

I -hope- this is just a software limitation. Otherwise this $4k headset can’t handle what a $500 Quest3 can do.

 

[Night Spring]

Perfectly stated. This is me and this is how the $150 Zeiss RX lenses work. My right eye prescription is perfect. My left eye prescription is basically 8-bit fonts in a 4K world. I had to use accessibility feature to disable eye tracking on left eye as the only thing I can see out of is right lens.

I -hope- this is just a software limitation. Otherwise this $4k headset can’t handle what a $500 Quest3 can do.

I have the exact same problem as you -- one of my eyes is + and the other is -. But I think my left eye is so bad, I'm not really using it much anyway. Not planning to buy the first gen, but I'm hoping it will eventually come down enough in price for me to get one. It'll suck if it turns out the VP is incompatible with my eye condition.

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

I have the exact same problem as you -- one of my eyes is + and the other is -. But I think my left eye is so bad, I'm not really using it much anyway. Not planning to buy the first gen, but I'm hoping it will eventually come down enough in price for me to get one. It'll suck if it turns out the VP is incompatible with my eye condition.

So I got the Developer strap today and was fooling around with some XCode stuff I’ve been playing with and it had a bug and yada yada yada….

I said screw it and threw up a movie from Apple TV. Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise if you must know.

And I’m watching it and decided to shut my right eye as I’ve been testing stuff all day and remember my left eye optics were all fuzzy and….

****. The left eye isn’t fuzzy while watching a movie. It’s crystal clear just like my right eye view.

I shift to TV series, Breaking Bad. Left eye….totally clear again.

I pop out and pull up Safari, Macrumors, this very thread after my last reply. I close my right eye and sure enough left eye view is 8-bit retro fonts. Terribly fuzzy.

Back to a movie, Disney+ this time. Left eye is once again perfectly clear.

Folks this is a software issue. Has to be. And with that hope that it’s fixable. Either apps must be coded to respect the RX left/right lens strengths or there’s some kind of global configuration being applied to non-media app displays like Safari, Teams and stuff. But the fact that these lenses, as different as my right vs left are, work -as designed- in movies and tv shows tells me it’s -NOT- an optical issue. It’s a software or configuration issue.

I have hope this is something Apple addresses!

 

[Kierkegaarden]

So I got the Developer strap today and was fooling around with some XCode stuff I’ve been playing with and it had a bug and yada yada yada….

I said screw it and threw up a movie from Apple TV. Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise if you must know.

And I’m watching it and decided to shut my right eye as I’ve been testing stuff all day and remember my left eye optics were all fuzzy and….

****. The left eye isn’t fuzzy while watching a movie. It’s crystal clear just like my right eye view.

I shift to TV series, Breaking Bad. Left eye….totally clear again.

I pop out and pull up Safari, Macrumors, this very thread after my last reply. I close my right eye and sure enough left eye view is 8-bit retro fonts. Terribly fuzzy.

Back to a movie, Disney+ this time. Left eye is once again perfectly clear.

Folks this is a software issue. Has to be. And with that hope that it’s fixable. Either apps must be coded to respect the RX left/right lens strengths or there’s some kind of global configuration being applied to non-media app displays like Safari, Teams and stuff. But the fact that these lenses, as different as my right vs left are, work -as designed- in movies and tv shows tells me it’s -NOT- an optical issue. It’s a software or configuration issue.

I have hope this is something Apple addresses!

Good to know — please share this info with Apple!

 

[AdonisSMU]

Zeiss is such a hassle. OMG they rejected my prescription because the prescription didn’t include my age. WTF?!

 

[Rainerm]

So I got the Developer strap today and was fooling around with some XCode stuff I’ve been playing with and it had a bug and yada yada yada….

I said screw it and threw up a movie from Apple TV. Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise if you must know.

And I’m watching it and decided to shut my right eye as I’ve been testing stuff all day and remember my left eye optics were all fuzzy and….

****. The left eye isn’t fuzzy while watching a movie. It’s crystal clear just like my right eye view.

I shift to TV series, Breaking Bad. Left eye….totally clear again.

I pop out and pull up Safari, Macrumors, this very thread after my last reply. I close my right eye and sure enough left eye view is 8-bit retro fonts. Terribly fuzzy.

Back to a movie, Disney+ this time. Left eye is once again perfectly clear.

Folks this is a software issue. Has to be. And with that hope that it’s fixable. Either apps must be coded to respect the RX left/right lens strengths or there’s some kind of global configuration being applied to non-media app displays like Safari, Teams and stuff. But the fact that these lenses, as different as my right vs left are, work -as designed- in movies and tv shows tells me it’s -NOT- an optical issue. It’s a software or configuration issue.

I have hope this is something Apple addresses!

Could it be the eye tracking? I believe I read somewhere that only the spot where you look is actually rendered “sharp” or full resolution.
So if you only track your right eye and that is closed the AVP doesn’t really “know” where you look.
Perhaps this behavior is different for watching movies?? Always sharp everywhere since it’s “just” a movie?

Same for other users that say that the text isn’t really “sharp” perhaps just the eye tracking his off a little. We all have a dominant eye and if the tracking is in the other eye I can see (no pun intended) that throws off the rendering a little.

I believe you can take “screenshots” or connect it to Xcode and see what inside the AVP. Do you see in those screenshots the area that are “fuzzy” and the area that are sharp? Basically where did you look when you took the screenshot, or does the AVP render the screenshot sharp in all areas?

I pick mine up on Saturday and I can/will check.
I need glasses also and I have some concerns that this will be less than optimal regarding sharpness.

I agree that this indicates it is a software “issue” that will be addressed once it is confirmed. I can not see Apple not wanting to get this corrected.
Good find.

 

[fs454]

Zeiss is such a hassle. OMG they rejected my prescription because the prescription didn’t include my age. WTF?!

I just edited my DOB in with a PDF editor before uploading to Zeiss and they took it. They are still a pain in the ass - I essentially can't use my AVP or know if my updated prescription is going to fix the fundamental issue I am having with this headset before the return period is up because they take a ridiculous 10 days to make these. IMO that's an unacceptable turnaround time.

 

[appleuserindc]

I’m having the same issue…

I figured it out just by looking at the instructions. Should have been my first stop!

 

[AlastorKatriona]

Seems to me the AVP cannot currently handle a different prescription in each eye. It’s trying to apply the right eye prescription to the left eye.

Er, that's not how it works. Hence why you need physical lens inserts in the first place. If vision pro were doing anything at all in software, it wouldn't make sense. The physical lens inserts are the same as wearing a pair of glasses. They are correcting your vision. Not the software. That's something Apple hopes to do in the future, if we ever get there.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

This thread is why I am waiting for the version that uses software to correct your vision for you.

 

[dannynjoni]

So I got the Developer strap today and was fooling around with some XCode stuff I’ve been playing with and it had a bug and yada yada yada….

I said screw it and threw up a movie from Apple TV. Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise if you must know.

And I’m watching it and decided to shut my right eye as I’ve been testing stuff all day and remember my left eye optics were all fuzzy and….

****. The left eye isn’t fuzzy while watching a movie. It’s crystal clear just like my right eye view.

I shift to TV series, Breaking Bad. Left eye….totally clear again.

I pop out and pull up Safari, Macrumors, this very thread after my last reply. I close my right eye and sure enough left eye view is 8-bit retro fonts. Terribly fuzzy.

Back to a movie, Disney+ this time. Left eye is once again perfectly clear.

Folks this is a software issue. Has to be. And with that hope that it’s fixable. Either apps must be coded to respect the RX left/right lens strengths or there’s some kind of global configuration being applied to non-media app displays like Safari, Teams and stuff. But the fact that these lenses, as different as my right vs left are, work -as designed- in movies and tv shows tells me it’s -NOT- an optical issue. It’s a software or configuration issue.

I have hope this is something Apple addresses!

Thanks for sharing here. I was just on the phone with Apple tech support about some of my VP stuff being a bit blurry/wonky. After speaking with him for some time, it became apparent that my issues only come up with certain operations. We both thought that it seemed like software, and he submitted a new case to the Vision Pro team. He said that he believed they'd be very interested in this issue.

As you said, movies and environments are both excellent. Interesting stuff.

 

[fs454]

Er, that's not how it works. Hence why you need physical lens inserts in the first place. If vision pro were doing anything at all in software, it wouldn't make sense. The physical lens inserts are the same as wearing a pair of glasses. They are correcting your vision. Not the software. That's something Apple hopes to do in the future, if we ever get there.

The software absolutely has to know what the lens insert is for each eye though, or else eye tracking/distortion compensation/foveated rendering will fail spectacularly which seems to be what was happening in his case.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

The software absolutely has to know what the lens insert is for each eye though, or else eye tracking/distortion compensation/foveated rendering will fail spectacularly which seems to be what was happening in his case.

Undoubtedly, they just seemed to imply that software is doing vision correction which is not the case. Oh how I wish it was.

 

[fs454]

Undoubtedly, they just seemed to imply that software is doing vision correction which is not the case. Oh how I wish it was.

Yeah, same. Or a built in diopter. I think this whole product is essentially ruined for me due to the finicky lenses in the Vision Pro (and how slow Zeiss is with sending inserts). You'll do good by waiting though I am kind of doubtful they'll go the automatic route in the next couple generations.

 

[GCat]

Undoubtedly, they just seemed to imply that software is doing vision correction which is not the case. Oh how I wish it was.

I don't know for sure, but your (AlastorKatriona's) assumption that the vision correction is entirely done by the hardware (the inserted lens) is unlikely. When you insert the lenses the Vision Pro detects them and asks to scan a code on the Zeiss packaging, something that would be unnecessary if the vision correction was entirely performed by the inserts.

 

[dwhite601]

I remember hearing something inside the display move after I scanned my Zeiss code.

David