I can’t tell you how much time I spend trying on glasses.

My friends rarely have enough stamina for these excusions and I rarely make a conclusive decision.

At this point, it’s more habit than a true expedition, but I’m always hopeful.

I think glasses can be extremely transformative. They change the mood of your face and I generally

prefer them over sticking my finger in my eye for contacts. Sadly, sometimes, my frames just don’t compliment my outfit. So my search for more pairs continues.

Anyway, I just found this feature at eyebuydirect.com, which offers something called “optics interactive.”

This isn’t the first site with a virtual method of “trying on your frames,” but I have to say that this one is so user-friendly and accurate that it kept me highly entertained for a very long time.

It’s very simple to upload your photo. Then you tell the program where your left and right pupil are by clicking your mouse twice. Now, you can quickly cycle through a series of eyewear.

The technology is good enough to judge scale in your photo. It tells you how many millimeters your eyes are apart from each other. Mine are 63mm apart. I think that means my head is in the wide category because I tended to like the look of the larger frames ranging from 135-145mm wide.

It’s a great time waster and you might decide to finally invest in a pair of frames that differs from your norm. If you’re in the market and you’re not a label whore, you will be very interested in the prices. The eyeglasses on the site seemed to average in the low 2-digits. I found a funky orange pair for $7, but the Calvin Klein sunglasses I favored were an expected $185.

Most of the glasses on this page were in the $25-$40 range. (Oddly enough, the pair that I liked the least, the square Guess frames at the bottom right are $80.) At those prices, even my dear friends with 20-20 vision who like to wear glasses for fun may consider expanding their eye wardrobe options.

And apologies for the gratuitous use of my photo. It was handy, but in hindsight, seeing them all on one page underneath the banner beside my profile pic is really obnoxious. I would change them if it wasn’t going to suck another hour or so from my life.