Mood:  cool

Fall into Savings with 20/20 Eyeglass Superstore this Autumn Season! If you live in Winter Park, Melbourne and/or Orange City, and you’re on the market for new eyeglasses or contact lenses, you’ve landed in the right place! Our tagline is “A Frame For Every Face and a Price For Every Budget”, and we guarantee we’ll have frames you love at a price you can afford. Check out our latest Fall 2014 deals:

Special 1

Share the Buy-One-Get-One-FREE with a friend or family member and we’ll pay for 1 eye examination! See in store for details as some restrictions apply.

Special 2

Donate your old glasses and get $30 OFF the Buy-One-Get-One-FREE Offer. Limited time only. See in store for details.

Special 3

Get 2 pair super strong lightweight polycarbonate lenses plus 2 frames for $149. You can also share this deal and we’ll pay for one eye examination. Restrictions apply. See in store for details.

Special 4

Get a 6-month-supply of Acuvue Oasys contact lenses for $139. See in store for details as some restrictions apply. This special also requires a valid prescription.

Don’t forget, each 20/20 Eyeglass Superstore location has an Independent Doctor of Optometry on site and no appointment is needed. All we ask is that you arrive 15 – 20 minutes prior to your desired appointment time to fill out the required paperwork. You can even book your eye examination online! We look forward to seeing you soon!

Mood:  cool

A recent story published by CNN, ‘Bionic eye” Lets Blind Man ‘See” Again, is the inspiration for this blog post. Here at 20/20 Eyeglass Superstore, we are in the business of correcting vision problems via glasses and contact lenses; however, there are some instances where eyesight can’t be restored via traditional methods. CNN’s story introduces a new concept: an artificial retina that restores partial vision in blind people.

How It Works

A small prosthesis is implanted on the surface of the retina via surgery and the patient wears a pair of glasses that have a small video camera mounted on it. The camera sends data to the prosthesis and that data is converted to electrical pulses. Cells in the eye are stimulated which leads to the perception of light patterns in the patient’s brain.

The surgery takes approximately four hours and patients can expect to recover in a few weeks. After recovery, doctors activate the implanted chip and results are immediate according to Mr. Pontz who received the implant on January 22, 2014. Even though the surgery was considered a success, regaining partial vision isn’t an easy process. Patients have to undergo rehabilitation to learn how to interpret the light patterns. “It’s kind of like learning a new language,” according to Mr. Pontz.

Even though vision isn’t fully restored, the patient can see simple flashes of light which means they can regain some mobility.

So far, four people in the United States have participated in this surgery. 10 more are on the list and that number is expected to grow.

What Does this Mean?

The vast majority of Americans will still depend on corrective glasses and contact lenses for vision correction. The American Academy of Ophthalmology has indicated that the procedure is still in its early stages and there are potential complications. It’s not available to the “mass public” yet, but it is considered an outstanding breakthrough.

According to a recent Huffington Post article, Eyeglasses for the World, OneDollarGlasses founder Martin Aufmuth has created a device that creates eyeglasses for $1 per pair. What makes this even better is that opticians in third world countries can be trained to create these glasses after just 14 days of training. Martin suggests that trained opticians sell the glasses for $2 to $7 to turn a profit.

Approximately 10% of the world’s population has some form of vision impairment. This means that 10% of population can’t see enough to work which then leads to poverty. A brand new pair of eyeglasses can make the difference between earning a living and becoming a beggar.

For approximately $1, the poor and needy can get eyeglasses made from lightweight, flexible steel with prefab lenses. Because approximately 150 million people need eyeglasses but can’t afford them, these frames are making a world of difference.

According to The Guardian, Mr. Aufmuth also won the top prize for the Siemens Stiftung award in October, 2013 for the OneDollarGlasses project.  Interestingly, it took him just over three years to develop the technology to create the eyeglasses.

How it Works

The OneDollarGlasses optician has a box with 25 lenses (made in China) varying in strength from -6.0 to +6.0 diopters in steps of 0.5 diopters (a diopter is a unit of measurement of the optical power of a lens).

Polycarbonate is much more resistant than glass or resin, which are commonly used in glasses. The lenses, which have notches, can be simply clicked into the frame by hand. Because the glasses – individually adjustable and almost unbreakable – are lightweight, they do not require traditional nose bridges.

“Extreme poverty does not only mean hunger, but also illness, hopelessness, missed opportunities in life,” Aufmuth says on his website. “Many of them cannot go to school for that reason, cannot work and can – as a consequence – not provide for themselves and their families. This is what I want to change.”