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How to purchase your next pair of glasses online
If you have a relatively recent prescription and an internet connection, you can easily find a pair of stylish -- and shockingly affordable -- glasses online.
ICYMI: Eye exams go DIY and smartfeeding your pets
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A new device can calculate people's eyeglass prescriptions without needing to see an optometrist, though whether that's actually responsible or not is up to you. Meanwhile a cloud-connected smart petfeeder that suffered from downed servers had to send a notice to owners to feed their pets manually, since the machines lost all connection and didn't release food. There's a lot to talk about this week but we recommend reading up on NOAA's three month weather outlook, since everyone will be talking about the DNC this weekend anyway. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Warby Parker wants you to use your phone for eye exams (update)
Warby Parker, the eyewear company that sends you frames to try on before you make a purchase, has some lofty goals for the near future. In addition to plans that'll almost double its current retail footprint, the start-up has tech in the works that will save you a trip to the optometrist for an eye exam. "We think that would increase access to eye exams," co-founder Dave Gilboa told The Wall Street Journal. "It's early in the process but we are excited about the potential." Of course, besides the convenience, it'll also provide an avenue for folks who really need their eyes looked at to get some help at home.
Blink: an on-demand, smartphone-powered service for eye exams
Yes, smartphones can be fun, no doubt about it (Flappy Bird, anyone?). But there's more to them than that. Take EyeNetra, for example: this young startup has come up with a smartphone-based service that offers on-demand vision tests. With Blink, people don't have to pay a visit to the optometrist to get a routine eye exam -- it comes to them. The newly launched service isn't meant to replace any optic emergencies that may arise, however; instead, it simply provides a test to determine if someone needs prescription eyeglasses.
Compare this Resident Evil remake screen to this one
As your resident Resident Evil re-remake optometrists, we're here to give you a quick exam. Since Capcom announced a new version of the first game in the series earlier this month, due to arrive in 2015 for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 and PS3, some were anxious to see if they could spot the differences between the remakes. Capcom Unity offered screens from the upcoming re-remake of the game as well as the Wii port of Resident Evil's 2002 remake. So, tell us: Does screen A look better, or screen B? Is screen C sharper, or screen D? What about screen E versus screen F? Share your Resident Evil remake vision screening results below, providing you're able to find the comments. [Image: Capcom]
Kinect keeps surgeons on task, Nintendo 3DS might assist optometrists with diagnoses
The latest generation of gaming gadgets do some nifty tricks, and one of the niftiest they might perform is assisting the realm of medicine. Microsoft's Kinect sounded like a candidate for surgery, and this month real-life surgeons have actually put it to use -- Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Canada rigged the Xbox 360 depth camera to its medical imaging computer. Now, doctors don't have to scrub out to manipulate an MRI scan, or even appoint a peon to the task -- rather, they simply raise their bloodied glove, and dive into the digital imagery with a wave of a dextrous hand. Meanwhile, the American Optometric Association has expanded upon its initial praise of Nintendo's 3DS, saying the autostereoscopic 3D handheld "could be a godsend for identifying kids under 6 who need vision therapy." Though Nintendo's warning labels had originally incited a bit of fear among parents, the organization says that kids who can't experience the 3DS to its full potential may have amblyopia (or other vision disorders) that can be more easily treated the earlier it's caught, though one doctor interviewed by the Associated Press contends that kids with amblyopia may not know what they're missing to begin with -- so don't necessarily expect a panacea, folks.
Samsung adds prescription lens option to its active shutter 3D glasses
If the only thing holding you back from that new 3DTV purchase was the inconvenience of slipping the 3D glasses over the regular old 2D glasses you already wear, Samsung is the first major manufacturer with a solution now that it's unveiled a prescription version in Korea. The SSG-R2200 models appear to be very similar to the company's other active shutter 3D glasses in various shapes and sizes, but they're made to order from an optometrist. We know this is something several companies have been working on and expect to see these available in the US eventually as well, but we'll have to see a pricetag of some type before we decide if rocking the dual specs or just sticking with 2D is the best option.%Gallery-105461%
MIT's Android optometry app could help you stop squinting all the time (video)
Remember Bokodes, MIT's tiny replacement for barcodes and the like? Their holographic nature enabled them to represent different information from different angles, and it's this property that allows the tech behind them to be used in a very different and even more useful way: figuring out just how busted your vision is. The Camera Culture team at MIT's Media Lab evolved that tech into a $2 box that refracts the image displayed on a smartphone screen. When combined with an app that displays a set of dots and lines, the user can manipulate the image until things look to be perfectly aligned. Once complete, the app spits out a prescription and you're just a quick trip to your local mall-based eyeglasses joint away from perfect vision. The goal is to make it easier for optometrists in developing countries to quickly and easily find glasses for people, but an app that could save a trip to the doctor's office is a wonderful thing regardless of where you are.
Having problems seeing 3D? The American Optometric Association will be happy to help
We're not sure whether to peg this as a greedy attempt to capitalize on hype, a genuine effort to address a real public health issue or just somewhere in between, but if you came away from your last 3D viewing unimpressed (and it wasn't Clash of the Titans) there may be a fix. With up to 56 percent of people living with binocular vision problems that could impede their ability to see 3D, the American Optometric Association is recommending those experiencing complications (headaches, blurred vision, etc.) get checked for vision misalignment. If an optometrist detects a problem through an eye exam, standard therapy in the form of standard exercises can be an effective treatment and improve the underlying conditions that may be keeping you from seeing 3D. There are those who still won't be impressed by Piranha 3-D, but with a little work, they might at least be able to appreciate its visuals properly.
