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.
“This is what we would call the equivalent of 30 Super Bowls,” American Paper Optics President and CEO John Jerrit said during a tour of the company’s manufacturing facility.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
