focal experience
Feb 27th
Today was the first day with the Focals!
Initial thoughts on the product:
The unboxing experience was satisfying with a few brand specific text elements. I appreciated the “made in Canada” on the side of the box. Overall, I found the process of setting up the glasses pretty frustrating. There was an overall lack of user feedback, which made it quite difficult to understand why the glasses were not responding. After reading the FAQ page and finding no useful information, I did a quick google to learn that the glasses need to be charged for 2 hours in their case. This was slightly disappointing as the first experience with the glasses was delayed.
First experiences with the glasses:
The glasses themselves are quite heavy and have a desire to fall down the bridge of my nose. I like that it comes with clip on sunglasses. Not particularly my style, but I like that it makes the glasses more versatile.
First reactions to the glasses:
Below is a sequential list of quotes from the first interaction I had with a friend while wearing the glasses:
“Those look ridiculous, you look blind” (I was wearing the clip on sunglasses)
“Can you actually focus for a second”
“I feel like I don’t have your attention anymore”
“Take them off I hate them”
“Im going to break these I hate these glasses”
“No one deserves to be treated like this”
It is clear that I will need to improve my ability to integrate these products into social situations. After playing around a bit with them I realized that the audio feedback is a bit of a problem. I will need to turn down the volume as it is currently loud enough for others to hear, which increased my friends frustrations. As of now it makes it more clear when I am engaging with the glasses rather than the people around me. A lower volume will make this experience more discreet.
Feb 28th
Today is the second day with the focals and I am trying to get adjusted to looking at the display and having the frames on my face. I have been told by my family and friends that the frames make me look very nerdy and like perry the platypus. The frames are quite uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Additionally I feel like I am going cross eyed looking at the display. Even just for 30 minutes I feel as though I am straining my eyes. I can’t just passively read the content, I have to be actively looking at the area, which causes my eyes to get tired. I am hopeful that this will get better with time.
Feb 29th
Today I used my glasses while I was home with my roommates. My roommates were excited to try out the glasses and play the trivia game. Since the display was being used consistently for around 15 minutes I noticed the glasses began to heat up. The heat of the glasses became uncomfortable for myself and my roommates. Being able to withstand consistent use for a duration of 15 minutes without heating up should be attainable with this product.
Mar 1st
Today I was using the glasses while I was cooking and watching TV. I am still trying to get used to the frames on my face. I think that the fit will continue to be an issue throughout the process as there is no clear way to mold them better to my face. The sections behind my ear do not do a good job at securing the frames to my face. This contributes to the issue of the frames continually falling off my face.
Additionally, I noticed today that when I want to use the display intermittently I need to reposition the frames to align the display into my eye each time. I found this made the experience of using the glasses more noticeable to my roommates.
Reaction to the glasses
I had yet to catch my own reflection in the glasses before today. I was startled when I saw myself in the mirror as I am used to seeing my prescription glasses on my face and I personally think these glasses look a bit ugly (not to be mean but they do not suit my face).
The moment I walked out of my room to begin cooking my roommates reacted with a sigh. We had a quick discussion and they said they wanted to be more positive about my use of these glasses since it is part of a study. Every so often over the course of the hour I was using them they would joke around about breaking them but they are getting better with time. I think if I was to have purchased these for personal use and worn them more consistently I do not think my roommates would be as understanding.
Mar 2nd
Today while wearing the glasses I had a chat with some of my best friends about the concept of the glasses. Below are a few of the quotes from our discussion:
"Getting distracted and I like having people's full attention"
"I just don't see what value it adds"
"I love authentic moments and this feels like a wall between people"
"I don't know when you are using the glasses and it makes it feel disingenuous"
"It is making you cross eyed. I think it is bad for your body. It looks like it is putting more strain on you. I care about your health."
"It seems like it is adding technology in an unnecessary way"
This really makes me feel as though the benefits that I have experienced do not outweigh the negative social implications of the glasses.
Mar 3rd
While using the glasses today I was unsettled. I do not particularly like the idea of always being connected. Having notification appear before my eyes at any moment is not something that I desire to have. I like the idea of being disconnected and I do not feel that I will ever truly feel disconnected with these glasses.
Today I tried using the glasses while writing an essay. Once again the fit of the frames was bothering me as any time I tilt my head down, the glasses are eager to fall off my face.
I have only used the glasses at home. I am excited to wear these frames in public. I look forward to the discussions that this may strike with more individuals.
Mar 4th
Today I played around a lot with the volume to understand how it impacted mine and others experiences with the glasses. The volume annoyed others but I find it helpful to use to know that there is feedback from the device. I wonder if haptics is another way to manage this? My conclusion was to leave the volume on but a bit quieter for the benefit of product feedback. However if I was to use these glasses more publicly with friends and family I would be inclined to mute the sound.
Mar 6-10th
I have been pretty sick and found it difficult to use the frames while coughing and blowing my nose. Unfortunately during this time I did not find opportunities to use the glasses.
Mar 11th
I have been having a lot of issues viewing the display of the frames. I think my issue is because I usually use glasses and my stigmatism makes the display fuzzy and difficult to read with such a small font. I would really like if I had control on increasing the font size. I can just imagine my father trying to use these glasses. He would love to be able to increase the size of the text. In the mean time while my eyes are worse on some days I found a hacky way around the problem. I have started using the "Lenscast" feature with my phone. I know this defeats the purposes of the glasses being free from my phone. However, the Lenscast feature will present the display on my phone which allows me to be able to read the text in a larger font!
Mar 12th
Today I had the dilemma again of whether to bring my glasses with me to school. I don't typically have room in my backpack for the charging case and I need to be able to use my actual glasses in class. I decided not to bring them. I think if my glasses were prescription I would be able to wear them for longer periods of time and potentially avoid having to bring the carrying case.
Instead I used the glasses while at home today. Once again the presence of the glasses sparked an interesting discussion with my roommates about the presence of technology in our lives. The tone of the discussion revealed that they don't really believe in the problem these glasses are trying to solve. This made me think a lot. I am not really sure what the problem statement or situation impact statement would be that North had created? Based on the discussion previously and Focal's branding they wanted to enable being disconnected with technology. I do not believe these glasses are an adequate solution for that problem.
“Design a product to be used by ____ for ___, while adhering to ____”
Mar 13th-20th
The 13th marked the beginning of my stay at home period/self-isolation period. I was incredibly distracted at the beginning and did not find time to wear the glasses.
Today was the first day with the Focals!
Initial thoughts on the product:
The unboxing experience was satisfying with a few brand specific text elements. I appreciated the “made in Canada” on the side of the box. Overall, I found the process of setting up the glasses pretty frustrating. There was an overall lack of user feedback, which made it quite difficult to understand why the glasses were not responding. After reading the FAQ page and finding no useful information, I did a quick google to learn that the glasses need to be charged for 2 hours in their case. This was slightly disappointing as the first experience with the glasses was delayed.
First experiences with the glasses:
The glasses themselves are quite heavy and have a desire to fall down the bridge of my nose. I like that it comes with clip on sunglasses. Not particularly my style, but I like that it makes the glasses more versatile.
First reactions to the glasses:
Below is a sequential list of quotes from the first interaction I had with a friend while wearing the glasses:
“Those look ridiculous, you look blind” (I was wearing the clip on sunglasses)
“Can you actually focus for a second”
“I feel like I don’t have your attention anymore”
“Take them off I hate them”
“Im going to break these I hate these glasses”
“No one deserves to be treated like this”
It is clear that I will need to improve my ability to integrate these products into social situations. After playing around a bit with them I realized that the audio feedback is a bit of a problem. I will need to turn down the volume as it is currently loud enough for others to hear, which increased my friends frustrations. As of now it makes it more clear when I am engaging with the glasses rather than the people around me. A lower volume will make this experience more discreet.
Feb 28th
Today is the second day with the focals and I am trying to get adjusted to looking at the display and having the frames on my face. I have been told by my family and friends that the frames make me look very nerdy and like perry the platypus. The frames are quite uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Additionally I feel like I am going cross eyed looking at the display. Even just for 30 minutes I feel as though I am straining my eyes. I can’t just passively read the content, I have to be actively looking at the area, which causes my eyes to get tired. I am hopeful that this will get better with time.
Feb 29th
Today I used my glasses while I was home with my roommates. My roommates were excited to try out the glasses and play the trivia game. Since the display was being used consistently for around 15 minutes I noticed the glasses began to heat up. The heat of the glasses became uncomfortable for myself and my roommates. Being able to withstand consistent use for a duration of 15 minutes without heating up should be attainable with this product.
Mar 1st
Today I was using the glasses while I was cooking and watching TV. I am still trying to get used to the frames on my face. I think that the fit will continue to be an issue throughout the process as there is no clear way to mold them better to my face. The sections behind my ear do not do a good job at securing the frames to my face. This contributes to the issue of the frames continually falling off my face.
Additionally, I noticed today that when I want to use the display intermittently I need to reposition the frames to align the display into my eye each time. I found this made the experience of using the glasses more noticeable to my roommates.
Reaction to the glasses
I had yet to catch my own reflection in the glasses before today. I was startled when I saw myself in the mirror as I am used to seeing my prescription glasses on my face and I personally think these glasses look a bit ugly (not to be mean but they do not suit my face).
The moment I walked out of my room to begin cooking my roommates reacted with a sigh. We had a quick discussion and they said they wanted to be more positive about my use of these glasses since it is part of a study. Every so often over the course of the hour I was using them they would joke around about breaking them but they are getting better with time. I think if I was to have purchased these for personal use and worn them more consistently I do not think my roommates would be as understanding.
Mar 2nd
Today while wearing the glasses I had a chat with some of my best friends about the concept of the glasses. Below are a few of the quotes from our discussion:
"Getting distracted and I like having people's full attention"
"I just don't see what value it adds"
"I love authentic moments and this feels like a wall between people"
"I don't know when you are using the glasses and it makes it feel disingenuous"
"It is making you cross eyed. I think it is bad for your body. It looks like it is putting more strain on you. I care about your health."
"It seems like it is adding technology in an unnecessary way"
This really makes me feel as though the benefits that I have experienced do not outweigh the negative social implications of the glasses.
Mar 3rd
While using the glasses today I was unsettled. I do not particularly like the idea of always being connected. Having notification appear before my eyes at any moment is not something that I desire to have. I like the idea of being disconnected and I do not feel that I will ever truly feel disconnected with these glasses.
Today I tried using the glasses while writing an essay. Once again the fit of the frames was bothering me as any time I tilt my head down, the glasses are eager to fall off my face.
I have only used the glasses at home. I am excited to wear these frames in public. I look forward to the discussions that this may strike with more individuals.
Mar 4th
Today I played around a lot with the volume to understand how it impacted mine and others experiences with the glasses. The volume annoyed others but I find it helpful to use to know that there is feedback from the device. I wonder if haptics is another way to manage this? My conclusion was to leave the volume on but a bit quieter for the benefit of product feedback. However if I was to use these glasses more publicly with friends and family I would be inclined to mute the sound.
Mar 6-10th
I have been pretty sick and found it difficult to use the frames while coughing and blowing my nose. Unfortunately during this time I did not find opportunities to use the glasses.
Mar 11th
I have been having a lot of issues viewing the display of the frames. I think my issue is because I usually use glasses and my stigmatism makes the display fuzzy and difficult to read with such a small font. I would really like if I had control on increasing the font size. I can just imagine my father trying to use these glasses. He would love to be able to increase the size of the text. In the mean time while my eyes are worse on some days I found a hacky way around the problem. I have started using the "Lenscast" feature with my phone. I know this defeats the purposes of the glasses being free from my phone. However, the Lenscast feature will present the display on my phone which allows me to be able to read the text in a larger font!
Mar 12th
Today I had the dilemma again of whether to bring my glasses with me to school. I don't typically have room in my backpack for the charging case and I need to be able to use my actual glasses in class. I decided not to bring them. I think if my glasses were prescription I would be able to wear them for longer periods of time and potentially avoid having to bring the carrying case.
Instead I used the glasses while at home today. Once again the presence of the glasses sparked an interesting discussion with my roommates about the presence of technology in our lives. The tone of the discussion revealed that they don't really believe in the problem these glasses are trying to solve. This made me think a lot. I am not really sure what the problem statement or situation impact statement would be that North had created? Based on the discussion previously and Focal's branding they wanted to enable being disconnected with technology. I do not believe these glasses are an adequate solution for that problem.
“Design a product to be used by ____ for ___, while adhering to ____”
Mar 13th-20th
The 13th marked the beginning of my stay at home period/self-isolation period. I was incredibly distracted at the beginning and did not find time to wear the glasses.
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