Okay, so eyeglasses may not be as sleek as a sports car or as exciting as skydiving, but there’s still a lot happening in the eyewear industry that’s worth getting excited about. Here’s a rundown of some cool things happening in eyewear that you may not know about:
Enchroma Colour-Correcting Lenses Bring Colour to the Colourblind!
It would be well understood if you read that headline and scoffed. After all, how many devices and glasses have been created over the years that “cure” colourblindness? (Hint: it’s a lot).
Well, Enchroma appears to have figured out how to crack the proverbial nut. Their patented lenses filter out certain wavelengths of light, enabling the brain of a colourblind person to better differentiate the rest of the palette. The result is a lens that truly empowers colourblind people to see more than they ever realized, or even imagined, was possible.
Available in tinted versions (for outdoor use) and clear versions (for indoor), these lenses can be fit to nearly any frame (if you live in the USA, Canadians can only purchase full sets of glasses for now). If you’re colourblind, you might want to pop by the Enchroma website and have a look.
Zeiss Tackles Digital Eye Strain With New Lenses Meant For Digital Displays
Every year we see hundreds of patients about their digital eye strain symptoms. A combination of long hours in front of a computer, glare, and a focusing point that’s often far from ideal, digital eye strain can hamper any professional’s work day or gamers all-nighter.
Zeiss, being leaders in optical technology, have created a series of new lenses designed to tackle the digital eye strain problem head on.
Zeiss Digital Lens
Designed for people that wear single vision lenses, these lenses provide a visual boost when using digital displays. These lenses have a rapid transition to a higher power, facilitating natural eye movement when using digital displays. The results are obvious: less fatigue when using computers and smartphones.
Blue Light Filtering Coatings Benefit our Circadian Rhythm!
One area of concern among the Optometrist community is the impacts that high-energy light (aka, blue light) has on the structures inside the eye. High-energy light (HEL, not a good acronym, we agree) has similar wavelengths to UV light and may have similar impacts on eye health.
More directly measureable (currently) is the impacts HEL has on our day/night cycle. A popular theory, reinforced by several studies and research papers, suggests that blue light causes our brain to think that it’s still daylight and thus the brain responds by pumping us full of “keep going, don’t fall asleep yet” hormones.
New coatings are available that filter out certain wavelengths of blue light, reducing its impact on your sleep patterns. Interested? Come pay us a visit- we can show you what they look like!
