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Pacific University Opens Eye Clinic Dedicated to 3D Vision

November 14, 2011

By Andrew Karp: Group Editor, Lenses + Technology

 
Pacific alumna and American Optometric Association president Dori Carlson OD, speaks at the opening of the 3D Performance Eye Clinic.
Amid growing recognition by eyecare professionals of the importance of 3D vision in entertainment, arts, sports, medicine and other fields, Pacific University has opened a facility near its campus in Beaverton, Oregon dedicated to diagnosing and treating eye coordination problems that affect 3D vision. The facility, known as the 3D Performance Eye Clinic, held a grand opening celebration on Oct. 6.

A full-service eyecare center housed within EyeClinic Beaverton, the 3D Performance Eye Clinic employs state-of-the-art technology, including a movie theater for one, to measure binocular vision performance (both eyes working together).

“The 3D Performance Eye Clinic is the first-ever clinic that specializes in diagnosing and managing the eye and health-related symptoms related to viewing 3D electronic displays,” said Jim Sheedy, OD, director of Pacific’s Vision Performance Institute (VPI), a research arm of the College of Optometry.

Health care, technology and civic leaders reveled in the clinic’s potential to change the way researchers discover, manufacturers develop and consumers benefit from 3D products and services. On hand for the clinic’s opening were Pacific College of Optometry dean, Jennifer Smythe, OD; University president, Lesley Hallick, OD; Beaverton mayor Denny Doyle; American Optometric Association president, Dori Carlson, OD; AOA associate director for health sciences and policy, Michael Duenas, OD; THX senior vice president and 3D@Home Consortium chair Rick Dean; Intel director of user experience Philip Corriveau; and Nike global research director for vision science, Dr. Alan Reichow.

Carlson, a Pacific alumna and the first female president in the 113-year history of the AOA, said the 3D clinic holds promising potential to identify vision problems in children and lead to better learning outcomes early on. “What we do to help children now makes a huge difference in their lives later on,” she said. “And clinics like this one will give kids every chance to learn well because they can see well.”

 
Screen inside the 3D Performance Eye Clinic. 
The AOA, in partnership with the 3D@Home Consortium, has published a comprehensive report for administrators and teachers that describes and explains the optimal uses of 3D in the classroom, including how 3D approaches to learning can enhance teaching and improve assurance of student school readiness. (See related story, Page 24).

Duenas added that the clinic represents an unchartered frontier in both the health and technology sectors. “What you see behind you offers the boldest transformational opportunities that we have witnessed in vision and eye health in the last century and a half,” he said.

 
Representatives from the American Optometric Association, THX, Intel and Pacific University’s College of Optometry collaborated to produce the world’s first 3D Performance Eye Clinic, located in Beaverton, Ore. (L to R) AOA associate director for Health Sciences and Policy, Dr. Michael Duenas; THX director of education John Dahl; Intel director of User Experience Philip Corriveau; THX senior vice president and 3D@Home Consortium chair Rick Dean; Pacific University Optometry Dean Jennifer Smythe, OD; Pacific Vision Performance Institute director Jim Sheedy, OD; AOA President Dori Carlson, OD; and Pacific University president Lesley Hallick, OD. 
Sheedy said the emergence of 3D into so many different parts of one’s life has spurred a sense of urgency in researching its effects on its users vision and balance. “The virtual 3D environment provides many unique challenges to the visual system, including vision and vertigo-related symptoms,” he said. “There is much yet to be known about the interaction between the human visual system and the virtual 3D environment created by 3D displays.”

Sheedy added, “The clinic offers treatment, including prismatic and 3D polarized prescriptions, which allow patients with 3D difficulties to comfortably view 3D as they never could before.”

THX and Intel are among several corporate partners whose collaborative efforts turned the revolutionary vision of the clinic into reality. As a key player in furthering the development of 3D for an enriched consumer experience and having the only performance benchmark available for 3D hardware today, THX provided its proficiency and advice in building the 3D movie theater, recruited a variety of A-list technology partners to donate THX certified equipment and managed calibration of the room to produce a unique, world-class 3D research facility.

“As 3D technology continues to mature, the need for research on the 3D environment and the unique challenges it creates to the human visual system is top of mind to THX,” Dean said.

 
Clinic visitors try out 3D eyewear.
“This clinic is a game changer for ourselves, our children and our next generation,” Corriveau said. “3D is here to stay, and it’s our job to leverage every possible aspect of that technology to solve vision problems.”

Nike, a major sportswear and equipment supplier, has loaned equipment to the clinic for testing sports vision performance. Vision Service Plan (VSP) Global and subsidiaries Marchon Eyewear and Eye Designs contributed equipment, design services and cash to support the clinic. LG and Planar Systems contributed display systems and touch screen monitors in this state-of-the-art, technologically-rich environment.

In addition to 3D vision treatment, Pacific EyeClinic Beaverton provides comprehensive eye services to patients, including primary care, contact lens fitting, vision field testing, treatment of infections, foreign objects removal, retinal photography and imaging and vision field exams. Exams are performed by University optometry students under the careful supervision of licensed optometrists. ■

akarp@jobson.com
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