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January 10, 2024January 10, 2024

Eschenbach Sponsors Two Visually Impaired Students to go to Space Camp – Again!

For the second year in a row, in a special giving-back initiative, Eschenbach Optik of America sponsored two visually impaired students to attend the Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students (SCVIS). The SCIVIS camp was held from October 1-5, 2023 at the US Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL and was a 4-day/night educational adventure for those visually impaired students who had the opportunity to attend.

Throughout the week, students were immersed in astronaut training techniques using equipment adapted from NASA’s actual astronaut program. They learned about space hardware, experienced space flight simulations such as a 1/6^th Gravity Chair and a multi-axis trainer, conducted a spaceflight mission, and performed an underwater scuba build, all while learning about aerospace career opportunities. It was also a special opportunity for them to work together with other students who had similar visual challenges and overcome those challenges together, as a team.

Eschenbach’s scholarship winners not only had their tuition paid in full, but they also received a care package that included an Eschenbach Smartlux® Digital portable video magnifier they could use at camp and keep for themselves afterwards.

Kelsey K. and Coy Dale D.

The student winners this year were Kelsey K. from Smithfield, UT who attended the Space Academy program and Coy dale D. from Hope Hull, AL who attended the Advanced Space Academy program, each of which completed their space mission successfully!

Upon completion of the camp, one of our scholarship winners reflected upon how transformational her experience was:

“Thank you for this amazing sponsorship! It was so much fun at Space Camp with all the things I got to try and do and all the crazy experiences I had, it was so exciting and challenging!” – Kelsey K.

Learn more about the Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students at http://www.scivis.org.

Click HERE for the full press release.

For more related articles on Optik NOW, click HERE.

January 8, 2024January 9, 2024

The Best in Optical Eyewear Design to be Awarded at VEE 2024

The Vision Council and RX, the joint organizers of Vision Expo, have announced the return of NOW by Vision Expo. The dynamic display and awards program will make its latest appearance at Vision Expo East 2024, taking place March 14-17 at the Javits Center in New York City. This year’s edition promises to expand upon the successes of years past, showcasing a broad array of eyewear designs that illustrate the latest trends in colours, materials, and styles across the industry.

“Against the vibrant backdrop of the city, and in celebration of nearly four decades of Vision Expo in New York, we are excited to amplify NOW by Vision Expo for 2024 and encourage all eyewear exhibitors to participate in this fantastic showcase,” said Fran Pennella, Vice President of Vision Expo at RX. “Back by popular demand, NOW by Vision Expo will spotlight some of our industry’s most eye-catching frame designs, on display for all show attendees to experience.”

Submissions

All Vision Expo East eyewear exhibitors are welcome to participate in NOW by Vision Expo by submitting one product per brand and/or collection that they believe best encapsulates the 2024 themes.

The themes for Vision Expo East 2024 are as follows:

NOW loves NYC NOSTALGIA – commemorating nearly 40 years of Vision Expo with archives or vintage-inspired frames.
NOW loves NYC FASHION – featuring high fashion eyewear accessories, from runways to NYC activewear.
NOW loves PEACH FUZZ – highlighting the 2024 Pantone Color of the Year.
NOW loves EARTH – showcasing innovation, new technology & materials.
NOW loves LOVE – featuring independent WOW and the jewelry of the eyes.

The NOW Advisory Committee

To be considered for inclusion in NOW by Vision Expo, eyewear companies must be exhibitors of Vision Expo East 2024 and must complete a short submission form by February 1, 2024. The final selection of products will be made by the NOW Advisory Committee composed of renowned industry leaders, including:

Dr. Harbir Sian, OD, Host, The 2020 Podcast
Alicia Hartman, OD, Founder, People of Barbados
Rama Valentin, Managing Partner, Atelier Mira
Dr. Jennifer Tsai, OD, Line of Sight
Lanard C. Atkins, Board of Directors, ABO-NCLE and Lead Optical Consultant, Timeless EYEdentity
Wendy Salle, Chief Merchandising Officer, New Look Vision Group

“The new committee members for the 2024 NOW awards each represent a unique facet of our industry,” said Nico Roseillier, Founder, Designer and Creative Strategist of UN-TI-TLED Creative Agency, and Director and Founder of NOW by Vision Expo. “I am beyond excited for another spectacular demonstration of design and creativity by the industry’s finest, as well as the second edition of the NOW by Vision Expo Awards ceremony.”

Japanese Titanium Perfection

Munic Eyewear’s lightweight Japanese titanium frames exemplify precision manufacturing, seamlessly merging comfort and style. Crafted with meticulous attention to detail and available in varied shapes and colours, they are the perfect addition to your boards.

Featured model: 8025

View the collection at www.georgesetphina.com

January 4, 2024January 4, 2024

KOMONO Now Distributed by Mood Eyewear in Canada

Mood Eyewear Inc. announces the recent launch of the young and innovative eyewear collection, KOMONO, from Belgium. This collaboration brings together the distinct Belgian design aesthetic and Mood’s expertise in eyewear.

The collection showcases a fusion of youthful style and cutting-edge innovation, making a bold statement in the eyewear industry.

KOMONO was founded in 2009 by two snowboarder friends from Antwerp who got it into their heads to challenge the status quo in accessory land. Their vision to make fashionable accessories like sunglasses and watches more accessible came at just the right time, instantly propelling KOMONO to the world stage.

KOMONO is in high-profile concept stores, department stores, independent opticians and fashion boutiques in over 80 countries.

Their boundary-breaking designs have been worn by some of the world’s most recognizable faces. These collaborations have pushed the envelope with icons and provided a platform for genre-defying talent.

Click HERE for the full press release.

For more related content on Optik NOW, click HERE.

January 4, 2024July 25, 2024

If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

Detailed view of an optical prescription eyewear order form with glasses and lenses

Photograph of Shannon Hughes, an optometry student, standing in front of a storefront.

Aperture* Contest Second place

Aperture is the publication of the Canadian Association of Optometry Students. Reprinted with permission.

Starting to see patients in third year was incredibly intimidating, and the imposter syndrome was real. Sure, I’d been studying and practicing these techniques for two years, and I’d spent many hours shadowing, but was I really ready to prescribe for a full-grown adult?

By Shannon Hughes

First Steps in Real-Life Patient Care

Whether I was ready or not, there I was, wiping down my slit lamp with an alcohol swab and reading patient files, silently preparing myself to examine someone’s eyes and proclaim them healthy or not. Luckily, I had my little notebook full of step-by-step instructions for performing all sorts of ocular health, refractive, and binocular vision tests. My first cohort of patients included two women who were the right age for presbyopia, so my focus was definitely on how in the world I was going to prescribe an addition lens. My only practice had been on my fellow – definitely not presbyopic – students, and even dilated, I did not think the experience would be the same.

My supervisor suggested using the cross-cylinder technique in order to make sure we understood how it worked, so that if just using age wasn’t giving results that made sense, we knew other techniques. So my patient arrives, and I nervously work my way through the tests as they are laid out on Visual Eyes. I meticulously go through a step-by-step refraction (even balancing) and perform a slow cross-cylinder to determine the patient’s add.

Photograph of a patient undergoing a vision test with a phropter.

Proud of myself for finishing, I take my results to my supervisor before dilating. He reviews my painstaking refraction and quickly, he rewrites it.

I am heartbroken. I have failed my first test in the real world. He is busy supervising three other students aside from myself, and I know we will review later, but I dejectedly take the new prescription in hand and return to my exam.

The second patient of the day goes very similarly. After a diligent refraction and an even more scrupulous add determination, I nervously show my supervisor the results. Again, he changes the prescription. He tells me “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. He asks if
she was seeing well with her current pair of spectacles, including the current add. I review the file and say yes, she sees 0.4M. He asks me, then why am I increasing her add? I am shocked. I had gone through, step-by-step, the correct process for determining the addition, and yet, I hadn’t really put any thought into what I was doing. My supervisor encourages me to finish the exam and says we’ll review again afterwards.

When my patients are both finished and gone, I sit down with my supervisor to review the files and he hands me a stack of papers. It’s a research article he has found for me, explaining the problems with overplussing patients and the advantages of keeping a current Rx if it is working for them. He shows me how he changed the prescriptions to make more sense considering my visual acuity results and the preceding refractions. This experience was a pivotal moment in understanding the real-world implications of patient care in optometry.

Patient undergoing a vision test during an eye exam, featuring optometric equipment and modern clinic ambiance.

While I learned a lot on my first day seeing patients, that experience stuck with me more than anything else.

Balancing Academic Knowledge with Patient Needs

We spend years in class, listening and studying, and then hours in lab, practicing and refining. But once we’re out there seeing real patients, they are what’s important. Don’t get me wrong, it is critical to have a base understanding of why we do certain tests and to perform them accurately. However, I learned that my focus has to be on the patient and their needs, and in doing so, I could actually avoid them returning with a problem with their glasses.

Our time as optometry students involves so much growing and learning. But looking ahead to our time as full-fledged optometrists, we need to be more than facts and figures. We need to be able to look at a table of results and say “Does this make sense?”. I had another supervisor at the beginning of my second term say that we were very good at collecting data but not good yet at using it. A patient-centered approach in which we can look beyond just our exam, but the connections between tests and their applications to our patients’ lives is essential to our futures as exceptional health care providers.