Posts Tagged ‘bright eyes’

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

Recently we closed the office and took the entire staff of Bright Eyes downtown to participate in  a day-long class on a new lens. We learned all about the features of the new electronic eyewear called emPower by Pixeloptix! I did know from seeing them at optometry meetings and reading about them in the news that this was an amazing breakthrough in bifocal lenses technology. But I did not know how exactly they work or try it myself.

Basically here is the just of it: You can put the glasses on and are able to see in the distance clearly without the same type of side distortion as with a lot of progressive multifocal lenses. Then you can touch the right temple of the frame and turn on the lens for reading. Tiny LCD areas in the lens change to bring whatever you are reading into focus. Just like that. See a demonstration here.

10 years ago, when I was an optician before becoming an optometrist, I remember having a patient tell me that they were not happy with their progressive multifocal glasses. She was annoyed that she had to move her head so much and that there was a small area where she could read it clearly. She said, “I wish there was just a button right here that I could press and change the glasses it from distance to reading.” At the time I thought that would be amazing but would probably never happen in my lifetime. Well, it has!

Another thing I learned about at this meeting  that I think is amazingly exciting is that Florida will be the one of the first places in the entire world that is going to be able to sell these new electronic lenses. Even more exciting is that we here at Bright eyes will be one of the first accounts in Florida to offer them! I’ll tell you… between treatment for macular degeneration,  electronic medical records, the Nintendo 3DS, and now these LCD electronic bifocal glasses,  I really do feel like we are living in the future!!

We will keep you up to date about how soon we will be able to offer the emPower glasses. It should be in the next few weeks. If you are interested in being among the first patients to try these lenses…. let us know!!

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

The American Optometric Association recently held a School Readiness Summit: Focus on Vision in which doctors, nurses, educators and advocates for children’s health gathered to examine learning-related vision issues that are keeping children from achieving in the classroom. This summit was created to address the concerns that our current system is flawed and a policy shift is needed. The problem is that currently, the U.S. educational system and some health care providers rely heavily on vision screenings to discover the kids that need comprehensive exams. These screenings do catch some types of vision problems but they can miss about 75% of those children that have learning-related vision problems. Detecting these vision problems is very important as “studies show that much of what children learn comes though vision, and undetected and untreated eye and vision disorders in children, such as amblyopia and strabismus, can result in vision loss, additional costly treatments, delayed reading and poorer outcomes in school.”

The take-home statement that the summit produced is that comprehensive eye exams must serve as the foundation to determine school readiness in school-aged children. Another important point established at this meeting is the establishment of the link between healthy vision and classroom learning.

This historic summit is an important step in ensuring that children receive the proper detection and treatment of vision problems before they become detrimental to their learning. Here at Bright Eyes Family Vision Care, we are excited to see these changes being made, since it has been our goal from the beginning to not only catch vision problems at an early stage, evidenced by the InfantSEE program that we offer that provides free eye exams to infants between the age of 6 months and 1 year of age, but to also treat certain types of problems through our extensive one-on-one vision therapy program.

If you have any questions regarding the InfantSEE program, vision therapy program, or would like to schedule a comprehensive eye exam for your child before they start school, give our office a call or come in to schedule.

All the best,

Justin Schoonover, CPO

Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

UPDATE: We are extending this to the entire week of June 6 – 10th!

Do you wear Biofinity/Aquaclear brand contact lenses from Cooper Vision? If so, today’s your lucky day! Here at Bright Eyes, we’re having the biggest contact lens sale ever!!  For today only, if you bring in your valid contact lens prescription for Biofinity/Aquaclear lenses or have a prescription on file here, you can save $100 on an annual supply.  That’s a total of 4 boxes for just $130 plus a $30 mail-in manufacturer rebate.  So if you’re running low on contacts or have just put off purchasing them, make sure and come in between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. today for some awesome savings!!

And don’t forget about our Ugly Glasses Contest!! Go to our Facebook page or click on the link to enter. You only have 3 days left to submit that hideous picture of you wearing the ugliest glasses you’ve owned. You could win a new pair of designer glasses valued at up to $500 to start your summer in style!

Justin Schoonover, CPO
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

Friday Update:

At Bright Eyes, we know that contests are fun. So is looking through old family photos poking fun at your hideous glasses. So we thought, why not combine them and host the UGLY GLASSES Contest! We are so sure that some of our patients have been photographed wearing seriously ugly glasses, that we will be giving away a complete designer pair of glasses, prescription lenses and all, to one lucky person! How fun is that?

Here is what you need to do:

• Locate a photo of you in some truly atrocious/crazy/ugly-looking glasses.
• Head over to our Facebook Page!
  
• Fill out the form, upload the picture, and tell us why you should win!
• Get everyone you know to vote for you!

Here are the complete rules:

The Ugly Glasses Contest begins 8:00 AM May 2, 2011 and ends May 30, 2011, at 10:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST). By submitting an entry, each contestant agrees to the rules of the contest.

The Bright Eyes Tampa Ugly Glasses Contest is judged by Dr. Nate and the staff of Bright Eyes Family Vision Care. Photos are judged with no discrimination towards sex, race, or age. Please submit photographs on-line through the contest application. Photos may not be mailed or brought to Bright Eyes Family Vision Care. All decisions are final. Please ensure your information is completed accurately.

One entry per contestant. The winner will be chosen based a number of factors including ugliness of the glasses in the picture, degree of humor or uniqueness of the description of the picture, and level of public support for the picture. Participants are highly encouraged to get friends and family to vote their pictures “thumbs up”.

Winners will be announced on May 31st, 2011. The Grand Prize winner of the free glasses must come in person to Bright Eyes Family Vision Care select the glasses and pick them up. The Second Prize is a $50 gift certificate to Bright Eyes Family Vision Care. The Third Prize is a $25 gift certificate to Bright Eyes Family Vision Care.

Contest may not be combined with vision insurance plans or any other discounts or offers. All participants must be at least 18 years of age. Bright Eyes Family Vision Care may use winning contestants’ name and photo for media promotion. There are no warranties or guarantees implied or assumed. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

Can’t Wait to see those pictures!

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

It is that time of year again….. yes, my friends, April 15th, tax day.  Yay!

But even better, the day after that is FOURSQUARE DAY! And here at Bright Eyes that means SALE! That’s right, we are pulling out all the stops and doing something we almost never do – for a very limited time.

BUY ONE,

GET ONE FREE

SALE

Seriously, all you have to do is show up and check in at Bright Eyes on foursquare. You’ll get an entire pair of glasses and lenses of equal or lesser value. (Please note – this sale is so awesome that it cannot be combined with insurance or other discounts. Patients must check in prior to ordering the glasses. If you have questions, please ask us.)

If you don’t know what Foursquare Day is, it is a day to celebrate social media, and foursquare, the geolocation application. Because 4^2 equals 16, April 16 is the day! And you may not know that Foursquare Day started right here at Bright Eyes last year. You can read more about that on our blog here and TampaBay.com here.

And don’t forget to support the local foursquare scene by RSVP’ing here!

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

For months, I’ve been reading, writing, and speaking about the Nintendo 3DS, all without actually seeing or using it. I was finally able to change that yesterday. After helping put the kids to bed, I slipped off to Best Buy and purchased a shiny black 3DS. I brought it home and Cristina and I spent a few hours setting it up and using it. We’ve had a Nintendo DS at Bright Eyes for years that we use as a reward activity during vision therapy, so it was immediately very familiar.

3D Effects

One of the biggest selling points of the 3DS is that the user does not need to wear special glasses to see the 3D effects. This is called autostereoscopic 3D and is definitely where 3D technology is going. It works surprisingly well, considering the small screen. You do have hold the screen flat relative to your head. If you angle the screen, you will either see double or lose the 3D effect.  The 3D does work from positions other than dead-center. This means that, while not ideal, it is possible for more than one person to see the 3D effect at one time.

I was particularly interested to see how well the “3D volume” slider worked. This allows users to adjust the amount of 3D shown to suit their tastes and the particular game. It works amazingly, seamlessly well. I was able to adjust the 3D anywhere from none, to just-noticeable, to full with just a flick of my thumb.

Augmented reality

One of the most intriguing aspects of the 3DS is its use of AR (augmented reality) as part of the game. This allows the viewer to play the game within the room or area that they are really in. (See picture to the right).  Not only is this extremely fun, there are some potential visual benefits to this. If the game is getting further away, it is more likely that the user will hold the game further away and look further away, potentially reducing some strain on the eyes. (I should note that I don’t have any research on this, but it occurred to me while playing.)

3DS vs. DS

One of the biggest visual concerns with 2D game systems such as the original Nintendo DS is that children tend to hold the screens incredibly close – as close as 3 or 4 inches. A person of any age should not hold a book or game closer than their Harmon Distance (or the distance from the knuckle to the elbow). With the 3DS, the 3D effect is better when the game is held a foot or so away from the eyes, so this will naturally encourage users to stay within their Harmon distance.

Safety

Much has been made, appropriately, of the potential adverse effects of using 3D technology, due to the differences of 3DS and real-life 3D.  Nintendo’s official warning of “vision damage” occurring for those six and under has gotten a lot of attention. While I haven’t seen any proof of this, I think it is reasonable because a person has to pretty visual sophisticated to use the 3DS. So I do recommend keeping it away from the young kids. They should be building with blocks and playing outside anyway,

For the older kids and adults (like Justin, on the left) who use the 3DS, eyestrain is possible. Already, I’ve talked to patients who have experienced headaches, nausea, and blurred vision from the 3DS. I’m happy to report that after an hour neither Cristina nor I experienced any of these symptoms. However, we routinely do activities during vision therapy that require visual skill and flexibility. For that reason we are much more accustomed to the visual demands required by the 3DS.

The #1 thing to remember: moderation. Take frequent breaks, even if you feel OK. Use the 20/20/20 Rule – Every 20 minutes, look away from the screen at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. Even Nintendo recommends that players take a 10 minute break every hour.

If you or your children do experience symptoms, or don’t see the 3D even with the 3D on “full” be sure to get a through eye exam to look for vision or eye coordination problems. And remember that eye exams are recommended at age six months, three years, and before kindergarten.

For more on potential health effects of the Nintendo 3DS, see my interview with PCWorld. See also the American Optometric Association’s press release on the subject

Overall

In summary, the Nintendo 3DS easy to use and fun. The 3D effects are effective and being glasses-free is very nice. The augmented reality really works well. When used in moderation for the appropriate ages, I do not see any harm. If you do have concerns, schedule an appointment at Bright Eyes either on our webpage or calling 813-792-0637.

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

$25 Discount for patients wearing green!

Today only! Stop in for more details!

Awesome bear photo via:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26011776@N04/4402604450/

Because things are just too hectic in December, we always take the staff out for a holiday party and gift exchange  sometime during mid-January.  We try to stay local and have a good time, so we took the opportunity to go to one of favorite new places: Burger 21.

We were all there.

And in case you were wondering Justin and I both ordered the OMG Tex-Mex Haystack.

It nearly killed us.

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.