• by Les Luchter , Staff Writer, Yesterday

What may sound like the tagline of an old sci-fi thriller could instead sum up a new revenue source for eyecare retailers.

Eyebot supplies branded kiosks that provide consumers with free 90-second vision tests. Then, for $20, the test results can be sent to telehealth eye doctors to generate eyeglass prescriptions that get filled at associated retailers, whether online or brick-and-mortar.

Retailers already using the kiosks, which can be in their own stores, malls, grocery stores, college campuses or other locations, include D2C brand Zenni Optical and brick-and-mortar retailer Pair Eyewear, Eyebot Chief Commercial Officer Tim Fern tells Pharma & Health Insider. Since the first 10 kiosks began being placed last October, Eyebot has done more than 50,000 vision tests, Fern says.

Now, flush with a recently raised $20 million in Series A funding, Fern says Eyebot hopes to expand from its present locations in just four states (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and California) to more than 20 states, with some 200 kiosks, by year’s end -- and, by the middle of next year, to have completed some 500,000 vision tests.

Eyebot works with both independent retailers and chains, and Fern says a few other partners, including at least one major name, will be announced over the next few months.

While Eyebot offers an obvious boost to brick-and-mortar eyeglass retailers who don’t have doctors on site, it can also extend the capacity for those who already provide in-store eye exams. “Going to an optometrist or an ophthalmologist for a comprehensive exam is a great solution,” Fern says,” but there simply aren’t enough of those folks available to deliver the number of exams to serve the U.S. market.”

For online retailers, the kiosks can provide their first physical presence, in any kind of retail location.

Then there are America’s health deserts, places where Fern says “you may have to drive 100 miles” to see an eye doctor.  “That’s what we can eradicate with our kiosk.”

He adds, “We’re not a replacement for a comprehensive exam, but we can get more people into the funnel for comprehensive care.”

In the four years since its founding, Eyebot has done clinical testing of more than 2,500 patients, which the company says shows it accurately matches traditional in-person exams. Other studies have shown Eyebot-generated prescriptions to have higher satisfaction scores than the industry average.

The company’s overall aim, Fern says, is to “simplify the customer journey so folks can get their prescriptions much more simply, and buy a pair of glasses like they buy a new pair of shoes or a new shirt.”