Will my health insurance cover Google Glass?
In an effort to make Google Glass look less dorky, Google announced it is launching a line of titanium frames, which can accommodate prescription lenses, with Google Glass attached.
From the promotional video, the glasses do appear to look better than the original model, which has a top frame, nose pieces, no lenses and comes in five colours: Charcoal (black), Tangerine (orange), Shale (grey), Cotton (white), Sky (blue).
Of course, the models wearing Google Glass in the promotional video are also very hip and good looking—what with their floral arrangements, ruby-red lipstick and slightly askew touques—which makes the frames look hip and good looking, too.
For now, there are four titanium frame options to choose from Split, Thin, Bold and Curve. There are also three sunglasses options: Edge, Classic and Active. In the U.S., the frames will retail for $225 U.S. and the sunglasses will sell for $150. That’s on top of the $1,500 fee for the original Google Glass. The glasses will ship with non-prescription glass in them and then it will cost the user extra to add prescription lenses. There is no word on how they will look on ordinary faces.
At present, Google Glass is still in the testing phase, which means only U.S. residents who apply to be “explorers,” are accepted, and shell out the $1,500 fee, can get their hands, and faces, on a pair. The explorer phase is expected to end sometime this year, with the glasses expected to become commercially available in the U.S. later in 2014.
Google also confirmed that it has partnered with U.S. insurance provider VSP, reports CNET. This means the $225 frame fee (or at least part of it) could be covered by health insurance for some people. However, purchasing the initial Google Glass will still cost $1,500, an amount not likely to be covered by any insurance provider any time soon.