By Evra Taylor, Contributing Editor
Friday, September 20, 2024 8:30 AM
Google X coined the term “glass explorers” when it released its Google Glass prototype in 2013, allowing wearers to communicate with the internet using voice commands. Since then, the smart glasses sector has become conspicuous for its rate of invention and iteration. What has emerged is a plethora of devices, proving it’s not only the technology that matters, it’s how you interpret it. Today’s smart glasses feature augmented reality displays, voice assistant-equipped headphones and live-streaming cameras, allowing users to answer phone calls, listen to music, reply to messages and enable a voice assistant. These days, the question isn’t “What can smart glasses do?” as much as “What can’t they do?”
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, September 13, 2024 8:30 AM
Fall will officially arrive on September 22, heralding the beginning of the conference and trade show season. As the business travel season begins and people start to gather in large numbers indoors, the risk of getting infected with influenza (flu), COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) increases. So what’s a trade show attendee to do? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched a new national campaign to inform the public about common respiratory viruses and available vaccines. The campaign, aptly titled
Risk Less. Do More., aims to increase the awareness of vaccines that reduce serious illness and limit the spread of these viruses among all Americans, HHS said.
By Julie Bos, Contributing Editor
Friday, August 23, 2024 8:30 AM
When Michael Walach retired from his 30-year optical career at age 57, the last thing he expected was to start another business. Yet he followed an opportunity and his intuition—and today, countless full-service labs around the world are certainly glad he did. In 2004, Walach started Quest Vision Care Specialty Lab, a unique and highly specialized “lab’s lab” that has earned its claim to fame for making prescriptions that are either too tough or simply out of range for other labs. Today, as Quest Vision Care Specialty Lab celebrates its 20th anniversary, the lab deserves every ounce of pride for what they’ve accomplished as they continue serving full-service wholesale labs from more than 17 countries around the world. Here’s a look at some of the lab’s major accomplishments over the last 20 years.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, August 16, 2024 8:30 AM
Healthy Aging Month is almost here, and with it comes calls for those over 65 years old to get a thorough eye exam. As people age, several vision health concerns begin to emerge such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and cataracts. Not only can these vision problems lead to loss of sight, but they can also make day-to-day activities more difficult. According to the
BrightFocus Foundation, macular degeneration is a leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years of age and older. As the senior population continues to grow, the number of older patients requiring vision care for common ailments will also begin to rise.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, July 26, 2024 8:30 AM
August is Children's Eye Health & Safety Month, and eyecare providers and eye health organizations are taking steps to ensure parents and caregivers are aware of the risks. According to the
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, there are more than 1.4 million children globally under the age of 14 with blindness. Additionally, 22.6 million children suffer from moderate to severe sight loss, and 46.6 million children from mild sight loss. The agency noted that 40 percent of children are blind from eye conditions that could have been prevented.
By Julie Bos, Contributing Editor
Sunday, July 21, 2024 2:00 AM
When Michael Walach retired from his 30-year optical career at age 57, the last thing he expected was to start another business. Yet he followed an opportunity and his intuition—and today, countless full-service labs around the world are certainly glad he did.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Sunday, July 21, 2024 1:59 AM
Alaska has beckoned innovative and strong-minded individuals to set up businesses for centuries. Renowned for its outdoorsy ruggedness and beauty, in recent years it has also become a hub for technological advancement and an entrepreneurial-friendly place to start a business. With a keen understanding of an underserved Alaskan eyeglasses market, Robert Wiktorowicz, chief operations officer at Anchorage-based Custom Eye Lab Inc., and his business partner, optometrist Charles Vojta, set up the only full-service, independent prescription lab in the state.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Sunday, July 21, 2024 1:58 AM
CLEARWATER, Fla.—More than 55 customers and industry partners gathered here in April for three days of education and networking at the annual Ocuco www.ocuco.com Innovations User Group Meeting (UGM). The meeting featured nearly 30 workshops and presentations including Innovations and Lablink Development Road Maps, Strategies to Enhance Online Presence, and Specialized Personnel Recruitment.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Thursday, May 30, 2024 8:30 AM
With the summer months approaching, there are lots of reasons to celebrate, and one of the most popular ways to do so is with fireworks. Before lighting up the night sky, however, it is important to take the right precautions to avoid injuries, especially injuries to the eyes. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s
2022 Fireworks Annual Report, there were more than 10,000 injuries and 11 deaths that year resulting from firework injuries. Today,
VMAIL Weekend takes a look at why fireworks are so dangerous and how ECPs can educate their patients about staying safe this summer season.
By Evra Taylor / Contributing Editor
Thursday, May 23, 2024 3:00 AM
Telehealth for eyecare is advancing at lightning speed through technology-enabled processes that allow the transition from in-person to remote scenarios. Over the past few years, this process has had a transformative effect on both practitioners and patients at both private practices and optical retail chains.
By Evra Taylor, Contributing Editor
Thursday, May 23, 2024 2:30 AM
Originating from basic teleconferencing models, technology-enabled tele-optometry has revolutionized the optical industry creating both a more patient-centric model of care and expanding ECPs’ practices in a quintessential win-win. With remote eye testing, optical companies are focusing their gaze on a novel approach—involving the consumer in their own health care journey, increasing their access to eyecare and reducing wait times, two major pain points in eyecare. In addition to self-administered, online visual acuity testing for prescription renewal, these companies are increasingly providing remote diagnostic services, expanding their reach into previously uncharted territory such as ultra-wide field digital retinal imaging. At the same time, eyecare providers have established effective guardrails to protect patients’ eye health, ensuring patient referrals to a specialist when needed, for example.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Friday, May 3, 2024 8:30 AM
A cross-disciplinary team of researchers and doctors at the
University of Waterloo (UW) are developing a new contact lens material that could change the way eyecare providers treat corneal wounds. The team, from the
Centre for Ocular Research and Education (CORE), located within the School of Optometry & Vision Science and the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University, believe the new material, acting as a bandage for corneal wounds, could release drugs in a controlled manner to help the eye heal faster.
By Sarah McGoldrick / Contributing Editor
Sunday, April 14, 2024 2:45 AM
This year, Cherry Optical Lab is marking 25 years as a successful, family-owned, independent optical lab. During that time, the Green Bay, Wisconsin-based wholesaler has established an enviable reputation for its excellent quality of work and forward-looking approach to technology.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Sunday, April 14, 2024 1:54 AM
NEW YORK—Heading into the afternoon sessions and before a break for lunch, Jim Rowan, principal at
Deloitte Consulting LLP, shared his insights into how to weave AI into daily business operations. In his presentation titled, “How to Build an AI Team,” he noted that generative AI is transforming the way the optical industry does business, from diagnostics to managing patient interactions and marketing, suggesting that AI is seemingly making it easier to enhance the patient experience.
By Sarah McGoldrick, Contributing Editor
Sunday, April 14, 2024 1:53 AM
NEW YORK—One of the greatest challenges businesses face in today’s age of artificial intelligence is finding the right balance between technology and human interaction. Hitting on this equilibrium was the focus of Liza Amlani’s session with her lunch-time presentation titled, “Keeping the Customer In Focus: Clienteling for Retail Eyewear.” As the principal and founder of the
Retail Strategy Group, Amlani has used her experience to help businesses improve profitability and organizational effectiveness by using the latest technology and most provocative retail trends.