Eclipse glasses: A look behind the scenes of how they're made
To combat fake solar eclipse glasses, the American Paper Optics team created the Core Four elements of eclipse glasses to look out for to ensure your safety during the solar event.
BARTLETT, Tenn. — In most other years, American Paper Optics produces 3D glasses to fulfill orders for theme parks and movie theaters, creating what its top executive calls “optical joy” on your favorite rides or for the latest action movie.
But in a year with an eclipse — like the upcoming total solar eclipse that will cross North America on Monday — the company pivots to make eclipse glasses.
It’s a relatively simple swap when it comes to materials: The assembly line to print, glue and fold the glasses shape is the same, but the polarized 3D lenses are switched out for specially tested and International Organization for Standardization-certified lenses that can stand up to the sun for the eclipse.
The company has become a leading supplier of these types of glasses, building up experience leading up to 2017’s solar eclipse, in addition to supplying glasses internationally to other countries in the path of eclipses since then.
But this year is special.
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