INSIGHTS How the ‘Startup Nation’ Is Bringing Innovation to Optical By Andrew Karp Wednesday, June 29, 2022 1:15 AM Israel is often referred to as the “land of innovation” and “startup nation,” and for good reason. Despite its small size, Israel is one of the most inventive nations in areas such as high-tech, medicine, biotech and clean energy. This point was raised by executives from Shamir in my recent video interviews with them, which you can watch on VisionMonday.com at bit.ly/3tAVk8p. They described how Shamir interacts and shares ideas with other tech leaders in Israel to bring innovation to the optical industry. A good example is Shamir’s recent investment in Blink, a developer of AI-based eye tracking technology. During my recent visit to Blink’s headquarters in Haifa, Shamir’s Ido Spigler and Blink CEO Oren Yogev and his colleagues demonstrated how the company is helping Shamir enhance the ophthalmic measurement processes used in Shamir Spark dispensing device. Here are a few other Israeli companies operating in optical that are worth noting. Deep Optics has developed 32°N, the first and only adaptive focus sunglass. Designed for presbyopes, 32°N lets wearers select several different reading magnification powers with a single pair of glasses. Powered by Deep Optics’ proprietary liquid crystal tunable lens technology, the sunglasses were named among the best products at CES 2022. Lumenis is the producer of OptiLight, the first and only light treatment that is FDA approved for managing dry eye disease. OptiLight device recently received the MedTech Breakthrough Award for “Best New Technology Solution for Ophthalmology.” NovaSight created CureSight, a treatment for amblyopia that enables children to develop stereoscopic vision by watching their favorite streamed content, which increases compliance and clinical effectiveness. Orcam is the developer of products for blind and vision impaired people. Its award-winning MyEye voice-activated device attaches to virtually any pair of glasses and can read text from a book, smartphone screen or any other surface, recognize faces and help perform other daily tasks. I recommend that you learn more about these and other Israeli innovators to find out how their technologies are shaping the future of eyewear and eyecare.