Technology you can see

Considering The Jetsons were the ultimate futuristic fantasy, with their jet-propulsion travel jackets, helpful robots and super-sleek accommodations, it’s no surprise that our version of the future (i.e. today) seems sorely lacking in comparison. But as more user-friendly gadgets keep popping up, everyday products become more compact, more efficient and more ingenious.

Entertainment centers are slowly being compressed into packages small enough to fit into the pocket, while automobiles, appliances, and even clothing labels have been looking for sustainable materials to create more earth-friendly lines. Though the digital revolution has been moving at supersonic speed, the rest of the industry has been quietly persevering, hopeful that small steps in a more efficient direction will shift their products into a more evolved category.

Ciba Vision, one of the global leaders in contact lens and the second largest contact lens company in the world, recently released their latest lenses, called O2Optix.

The lenses, which come at P1,800 for 3 pairs, boast higher oxygen transmissibility. For those who don’t wear contact lenses, it’s simple enough. Continual use of contact lenses often results in dryness, sore/irritated eyes and blurred vision. Sometimes, it gets worse – corneal staining and distortion are just a few eye-damaging effects. What this means: the wearer is often left scrambling on all fours in search of a missing contact lens that popped out after becoming too dry – usually during the worst moments, like in the middle of a work crisis or overtime shifts.

It’s not just that contacts are uncomfortable – at least, the ineffective ones. It’s that normal wear can cause irreparable damage to the eye. Naysayers may snort and suggest eyeglasses but the convenience, not to mention stylish plus points, clearly trumps the negatives.

Polled users in Asia recently admitted that they wear their lenses for more than nine hours a day, about 66 percent in fact, with two out of three of these users experiencing the symptoms resulting from reduced oxygen to the eye. Timothy Grant, Ciba Visions head of Asian distributor markets, claimed that many in Asia also nap while wearing their lenses (a major sin for users).

Made with silicone-based hydrogel material, Ciba’s O2Optix lenses are more breathable, allowing five times the amount of oxygen, compared to regular non-silicone-based soft hydrogel contact lens, to penetrate, allowing for whiter and brighter eyes. A new surface technology reduces lipid and protein deposits, providing a cleaner and more hydrated feel to the material.

These disposable lenses (they require replacing every month) have been FDA approved for daily wear. Since it exceeds the normal threshold established for extended wear, O2Optix practitioners claim the lenses can be worn safely during naps or for more than eight hours, a response to consumers’ claims they needed a product better fit for their hectic schedules.

So significant is the disparity in term of oxygen transmissibility that local eye care practitioners have given a strong endorsement to the label. In a preview trial with 20 optometrists, 72 percent claimed they would recommend it to others.

The people behind Ciba Vision couldn’t be happier. After all, it only substantiates their claim that they hold the best product on the market. Says Grant, "O2Optix is yet another milestone in Ciba Vision’s quest to promote the ocular health of contact lens wearers."

Perhaps with their revolutionary strides in ocular technology, they’ll find a way to make lenses obsolete – instead of daily wear contacts, perhaps a microscopic chip attached adjacent to the eye could do the same. Now, wouldn’t that be closer to our iconic Jetson-like image of the future?