FreeVisionInfo.com Blog

Vision Information, News & Resources

Welcome to the FreeVisionInfo.com Blog! We are here to keep you informed about all things vision related.

Sunglasses Save Woman’s Eyesight from Acid Attack

When most of us think of sunglasses saving our eyesight, we think of UV protection, blocking the sun, preventing skin cancer and things of that nature. Not blocking liquid acid from melting your face. Unfortunately, earlier this week a woman had to deal with this exact scenario.

Bethany Storro, a resident of Vancouver, Washington, was on her way to Starbucks around 7pm, when a strange woman asked her, “Hey pretty girl, do you want a drink of this?” and showed her a cup full of liquid. When Storro refused the drink, the woman threw the cup in her face and splashed Storro with some sort of acid. The acid started melting her skin and clothes instantly.

Storro had just purchased a pair of sunglasses 20 minutes earlier. The irony is that she has never worn sunglasses regularly, but the shades she had just purchased moments ago literally saved her eyesight. Storro’s eyes are the only part of her face that didn’t suffer from 2nd degree burns.

Storro is currently recovering in the hospital, and her attacker has yet to be identified. Another ironic aspect of the sunglasses is that Storro has been mostly deaf since her childhood, and relies mainly on her vision for communicating and day-to-day life. If it wasn’t for the sunglasses, Storro’s two main senses might have been gone for good.

Personally, I find it truly amazing that the acid didn’t melt straight through sunglasses. Most shades bought at department stores are made for physical protection, Storro is incredibly lucky. I’m sure she’s counting her blessings, the event could’ve been much worse. Hopefully her attacker will be caught soon.

FDTV — New Online Vision Video Hub Goes Live

Austin, TX (PRWEB) August 25, 2010 - FramesDirect.com, the online leader in eyeglasses, sunglasses, contact lenses and eyewear sales, is pleased to announce the launch of the site’s new vision and optical information video hub, FDTV.

FramesDirect.com will utilize this media to provide up-to-date eyewear news, product announcements, press information and more. In addition, FDTV will provide inside information and announcements from FramesDirect.com and the team behind it, including promotions and commentaries from the founders, Dr. Dhavid Cooper and Dr. Guy Hodgson.

Most recent additions include tutorials on how to find your eyewear frames size, how to clean your contact lenses and provide a fun way to choose your frame with the Face Shape Guide.

“Every day, people around the world want answers to questions about sunglasses, prescription lenses, frames, contact lenses and optics,” said Dr. Dhavid Cooper, CEO. “With the release of FDTV, the video hub for FramesDirect.com, we hope to create an interactive destination where consumers can get answers to their individual questions or find answers to pertinent optical issues.”

“In addition, FDTV will focus on the latest sunglasses and eyewear releases, helpful optical tips and fashion trends,” said Dr. Cooper. “A lot of work has gone into creating the hub, which we believe is already the leading source of video optical information on the Web.”

FDTV is viewable on iPhones, iPads, and many other Internet media devices. Visit http://fdtv.framesdirect.com/ to view or even download all the videos that FramesDirect.com already has to offer.

FramesDirect.com is an Austin, Texas-based 24-hour/7-day-a-week eyewear store that went online in 1996 and currently features over 116,000 products, including designer frames, eyeglasses, sunglasses, prescription lenses and contact lenses as well as a patented online technology for finding eyeglasses, sunglasses and frames.

Polaroid Eyewear teaming up with RealD for everyday 3D sunglasses

If you’re tired of taking your 3D glasses on and off while going to the movies, or you think it’s a huge waste to just toss your 3D glasses away after seeing one film, you’re in luck. Polaroid sunglasses has teamed up with RealD, the company that makes 3D glasses for films today, to develop a line of sunglasses that has UV protection, a stylish look, and 3D capability. This means that the same sunglasses that you wear everyday can be used in theaters for 3D films.

The line is called “Premium Polaroid 3D Eyewear” and is said to be compatible with 3D films worldwide. Polaroid put up the whole kit and caboodle on this line too, with prescription lenses available and junior sizes for the kids.

"Polaroid Premium 3D Eyewear," new line of 3D sunglasses from Polaroid and RealD.

“RealD is excited to partner with a brand like Polaroid that has a heritage in polarizing lens technology,” said Joseph Peixoto, President of Worldwide Cinema at RealD. “Polaroid Premium 3D Eyewear promises a range of custom frames with precisely curved lenses so moviegoers can fully experience RealD 3D with an uncompromising field of vision and a pair of glasses to match their personal style.”

3D film fans rejoice! Everyone else remain seated. While this is certainly good news for 3D film fans, the rest of the sunglass market could probably care less. And though these hybrid sunglasses are an innovative idea, their success is very much dependent on the future popularity and technology of 3D films. There are many film and technology buffs out there who believe that the 3D hype is just a fad, and will die out sooner than later.

So maybe Polaroid is just jumping on the band wagon to make a quick buck, but regardless it is a good idea. Thousands of 3D sunglasses are wasted every week, especially on opening weekends for films like “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland.” These glasses are reported act normally in all other conditions, so it should be an easy transformation from virtual theater to real life. If the 3D film craze continues to blossom as it has, Polaroid may have just landed a gold mine.

Man Gets Ant Stuck Inside Eye

Two weeks ago, a fellow co-worker of ours had an eye-opening experience with a small insect. John, a Web designer for FramesDirect.com, was sitting outside on the picnic table while on his lunch break, like he does on most days. But this day was different, while John was eating lunch and enjoying the outdoors, an ant fell from an overhanging tree branch and landed on his eyeglasses. John didn’t notice the hanger-on until he was back inside working at his desk.

“I saw something out of the corner of my eye crawling on the temple of my glasses,” John said. “I swatted at it and missed, but I knocked it onto my cheek and into the corner of my eye. Then I could feel him squirming around in there.”

While trying to casually brush the insect off of his face, John instead knocked the ant into his tear duct, from whence it crawled under his eyelid. But the ant didn’t stop its tracks there, as John started blinking frantically and rubbing his eye, the ant naturally attempted to protect itself and slipped underneath his eyeball to where it was unreachable and “out of sight,” so to speak.

“It didn’t really hurt at all, but I could feel him crawling around in my eye and it was driving me nuts.”

John decided that he should head to the emergency room immediately. Once he arrived at an emergency services location, they weren’t exactly sure what to do, so the doctor just stuck his head inside a sink and washed his eye out vigorously with water. John said he could still feel the ant inside there, but the doctor assured him that the ant was gone, or would “work its way out over time.”

Ironically (but luckily for him) John works for FramesDirect.com, which is an online eyewear store. The company is headed by two certified eye doctors, Dr. Cooper and Dr. Hodgson, so the next day John approached Dr. Cooper to get some professional advice on what to do about the ant in his eye.

“I told him it still felt like it was in there, he looked around in my eye really well and told me it was gone. He said that when an insect gets trapped like that, it emits an acid from its body so it will still feel like it’s there. Then he explained to me that there is a membrane around the eyeball which prevents anything from going behind the eye, it can only get beneath or above it.”

Meanwhile at the office, word had gotten around about John’s eye incident so we were all passing around corny jokes about his situation like, “Hey John, we heard your eye is ‘buggin’ you,” and “John’s super power is Ant Vision.” But by the time he arrived at the office the next day, we all felt too bad for him to keep the jokes going.

So what’s to learn from all of this? First of all, if a bug lands on your face, be sure to brush it away from your eye, not into it. Second, if you happen to have an insect fall in your eye, pray that you work at a business that has eye doctors on staff.

Nothing Goes Better with a Pair of Oakleys than a Ducati Motorcycle…

…Which is why Oakley has teamed up with Ducati motorcycles to release a signature line of sunglasses. The Ducati edition features traditional Oakley models, such as the Fuel Cell, Scalpel, and Juliet, all with custom Ducati features. Each model has Ducati in front of the model name, and every pair comes only in black and red. Each model frame has also been slightly modified from the original.

Though the Ducati series has been out for a while, they introduced a new signature model called the Nicky Hayden Juliet. Ducati racer Casey Stoner has his own personal signature model as well.

You can read more about the series from Oakley’s website right here. Below is a video of some Nicky Hayden Highlights.

MayBach Sunglasses: Luxury Eyewear for the Connoisseur

Ever heard of Maybach cars? No? Probably because they only sold 200 automobiles last year. You might think that makes them a boutique auto company, but their German factory has the ability to produce 2000 cars a year. That means slow sales for this high-end auto manufacturer, and when sales are slow, you accessorize.

MayBach sent out a press release this week stating that they are now heading into the world of eyewear. These cars sell for nearly half a mil, so you can imagine what the price tag on the sunglasses must be. According to their press release though, whatever the price is the shades are well worth it. 18k gold, hand-crafted leather, and fine wood are just a few of the exquisite materials used to design these A-list sunglasses. They’ll be available this October with custom jobs to boot. Here are a few pics below and my marketing slogan: “Maybach sunglasses, for those who appreciate (and can afford) the finer things in life.”

Maybach sunglasses

Maybach sunglasses

Maybach sunglasses

We’ve got our HONcode Certification!

Looks like our hard work is paying off! FVI received HONcode certifaction this week. For those of you that don’t know, HON stands for Health Online Network, and is basically an Internet watchdog for health resources online. Any Internet site that has the HONcode stamp of approval is basically a completely trustworthy site for health information. We had to jump through a whole lotta hoops to get it, and we’re honored to have it on our site. Here is the link to the press release that went out this morning:

http://www.prweb.com/releases/FreeVisionInfo/Certification/prweb4348074.htm

Certification Solidifies Vision Information Site’s Credibility as an Online Health Information Provider

Austin, TX August 5, 2010 – FreeVisionInfo.com, the world’s leading online source for vision information, has earned their HONcode certification from the Health On the Net Foundation. This certification solidifies FreeVisionInfo’s credibility as an online health information provider, as well as an established business of legitimate, reliable and professional vision information.

“We’re very honored to have the HONcode on our website,” says Dr. Guy Hodgson, founder of FreeVisionInfo.com. “This symbol informs the public that they can trust FreeVisionInfo.com as a professional resource for any questions regarding eye information.”

FVI has also launched a host of new interactive features on their website, including a teacher resources section, custom-made videos, and a voice plug-in for the visually impaired that reads each article out loud. New features, articles, blog posts, and videos are being uploaded every day.

From the HON website:
HON was founded to encourage the dissemination of quality health information for patients and professionals, and to facilitate access to the latest and most relevant medical data.

The HONcode certification is an ethical standard aimed at offering quality health information. It demonstrates the intent of a website to publish useful, objective and correct data.

About FVI:
FreeVisionInfo.com is an online resource for vision information covering everything from eye care to eyewear. Our goal is to help people become more knowledgeable about eye health, vision, and all things optical so that they can make better informed decisions as patients and consumers about eye care issues. Our database of vision resources and articles is doctor reviewed, updated daily, and always growing.

All articles of a medical nature are co-authored, or reviewed for accuracy, by Dr. Guy Hodgson, OD or Dr. Dhavid Cooper, OD, founders of FramesDirect.com.

Over-the-top Sunglasses

When you revel in the world of eyewear, such as I, occasionally you come across some attempts at eye fashion that’ll make your jaw drop and and your eyes bulge out. Being the conservatively fashionable person that I am, I could never see myself in a pair of these (unless it was Halloween or I was Star Trek fan). Regardless, there are those out there that are more fashionably risqué than I, and here are some of the sunglasses that they dare to wear.

Maison Martin Margiela – Incognito PE09
I recently ran across an online pic of Kim Kardashian wearing these, and my first thought was, “Why would she want to cover up that beautiful face?” These shades look like they belong in the newest Tron movie rather than a Hollywood celebrity’s mug.

CCTV Color Sport Sunglasses Camera w/Integrated DVR 640×480
For the peeping tom, paranoid schizophrenic or soviet spy.

Urban Spectacles – Granadillo
Wooden…handcuff-looking…leather straps…I’m so confused by these I don’t know where to start.

Maison Martin Margiela – Incognito PE08
More zaniness from the triple M. Wanna look like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica? Then these are the sunglasses for you.

Nicholas Cage wearing Oakley Sunglasses in Drive Angry 3D

Despite his publicly documented financial woes, Nicholas Cage is returning to the hot seat in this hellish action flick called Drive Angry 3D (notice that 3D is actually in the title, that was probably intentional). Though the film isn’t set to be released until February 2010, a scorching trailer was unveiled at the San Diego Comic-Con festival last week. In the trailer, Cage is prominently wearing Oakley Full Cell sunglasses, which have a big and black mysteriousness that seems to match his character. The movie also stars new Hollywood hottie Amber Heard, along with Billy Burke, who played the dad in the Twilight series. Though you’ll have to wait until next year for the movie, you can get the sunglasses now right here.

Here’s the trailer, you can see the sunglasses right about five seconds into the clip.


New Sunglasses from Prada

Have you visited Prada’s Website recently? Their new homepage features a music video of the classic jazz song “Fever” as reinterpreted by Katey Judd to promote their new sunglass model called FW10. The film is a slow, smooth shot of supermodel Angela Lindvall singing the tune around a group of retrosexual guys.  The shades are a classic cat eye shape, and they fit Lindvall’s facial frame like a glove.

It’s probably the only sunglasses commercial that features sunglasses for a mere few seconds throughout the entire video. In fact, if it didn’t say PRADA across the screen, you’d never know it was a sunglasses commercial. Now that’s strategic marketing!