Andrew Karp, Group Editor, Lenses & Technology
Andrew has reported on many facets of the optical industry for
Vision Monday and
20/20 Magazine since 1987. He specializes in covering the latest developments in ophthalmic dispensing, spectacle lenses and treatments, lens processing technology, optical laboratories and wearable technology. Andrew edits
VMail Technology, a weekly e-newsletter that spotlights new products, software and online applications for labs and dispensers. He helps plan and produce Vision Monday’s annual Global Leadership Summit. Contact Andrew at
akarp@jobson.com.
By Andrew Karp
Friday, January 31, 2020 11:05 AM
It’s been 66 years since the Creature from the Black Lagoon emerged from its swampy lair and crawled onto big screens of cinemas across the country. Horror movie fans who saw the 3D version of
the movie enjoyed the thrilling special effect by looking through anaglyph glasses with one red and one cyan lens that the theater provided. Now, in a sort of role reversal, scientists are outfitting some real creatures—praying mantises and cuttlefish—with tiny 3D glasses. They then showed them images in specially designed “cinemas” and observed their reactions.
By Andrew Karp
Tuesday, January 21, 2020 12:00 AM
LAS VEGAS—Innovative vision technology is becoming more and more visible every year at CES, the annual mega meeting and trade show which drew more than 180,000 attendees here last week. From the latest mixed reality glasses for gamers to a tiny clip-on device that enables blind people to navigate their surrounds more easily, the full scope of vision tech was on display.
By Andrew Karp
Friday, January 3, 2020 12:33 PM
Welcome to 2020, The Year of Vision. We’re only four days in, and already countless companies and organizations, both optical and non-optical, have used the happy coincidence between the calendar year and 20/20, the standard measure of visual acuity in the U.S., as a messaging platform. Seeing clearly is clearly a priority for everyone, everywhere. Yet there’s another dimension to 20/20 vision that seems to be overlooked: the connection between visual acuity and lost love.
By Andrew Karp
Monday, December 16, 2019 12:00 AM
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent publication of its first-ever World Report on Vision may have slipped by unnoticed by many VM readers. But it’s actually a big deal that’s worthy of our attention. The report’s release indicates that WHO, which usually concentrates on fighting life threatening diseases, has now elevated poor vision to a prominent place on its agenda.
By Andrew Karp
Friday, November 22, 2019 8:00 AM
I don’t think of myself as a pack rat. But somehow I’ve managed to accumulate a lot of stuff. My desk drawers and file cabinet, and even some closets at my house contain a curious assortment of promotional giveaway items and swag I’ve received at the countless optical industry meetings and events I’ve attended over the years. I’ve actually gotten rid of a lot of it while preparing for an office move last year. My brass Orcolite coaster went into the trash.
By By Marge Axelrad, Andrew Karp, Mark Tosh and Brian Dunleavy
Monday, November 11, 2019 12:30 AM
NEW YORK—We are living in an age of specialization. Today we can get virtually anything we want from a business whose only business is delivering a certain type of product or service, whether it’s a vegan restaurant or Victoria’s Secret. Optometry, like many medical professions, is being reshaped by the specialization trend. Modern living has changed the way we use our eyes, and many optometrists, particularly those in private practice, have responded by developing specialties to address specific patient needs. Some specialties, such as pediatrics and low vision, have been long established in optometry, while others, like dry eye management and neuro-optometry are more recent additions. Yet all seem to be benefitting from the advent of new technologies and treatment methods which are bringing exciting changes to vision care.
By Andrew Karp
Friday, October 25, 2019 7:00 AM
Eyewear design has always been influenced by popular music and musicians, and that love affair continues to yield fun and exciting results for eyeglass wearers. Take rock ‘n’ roll, for example. Fans can emulate rockers like Buddy Holly and John Lennon who wore now-iconic frames that evoke not only their music, but an entire era. Brands such as John Varvatos and Chrome Hearts offer rock-inspired looks. And Elton John is synonymous with distinctive, and often outrageously styled glasses.
By Andrew Karp and Brian Dunleavy
Monday, September 16, 2019 12:30 AM
NEW YORK—The optical lab business, at its most elemental, has always been a numbers game.
Running a lab, though, is a complex undertaking that involves more than simply dollars and cents. It also about the number of prescription jobs per day it can produce, and the percentage of those jobs that are rejected because they don’t meet quality control standards. It’s about maintaining a job average that’s calculated based upon production yields and the average price per job. It’s about the cost of capital equipment, consumables, overhead, labor and dozens of other budget line items.
By Andrew Karp
Tuesday, September 10, 2019 8:00 AM
In a recent posting on
Robotics Business Review, Giles Kirkland noted that although fully autonomous cars are still only in development, “potential users are starting to think about how an artificial brain will make life and death choices in case of an accident.”
Kirkland observes that if a collision was about to occur, we only have a split second to react (and rarely make a conscious choice at all). But in case these decisions can be made, people do not have the same opinion. Based on gender, age and professional background, our views on the morality of self-driving cars differ.
By Andrew Karp
Tuesday, September 3, 2019 8:00 AM
As children across the U.S. head back to school, it’s instructive to look at the results of an annual survey released this summer by the
National Retail Federation and
Prosper Insights and Analytics, which predicted that families will spend less this year than last year on back to school expenses. Total spending for K–12 schools and college combined is projected to reach $80.7 billion, down from last year’s projected $82.8 billion, according to an analysis of the survey data by
Coresight Research. The decline in the overall number is due largely to a decreased number of households with children in elementary through high school. Those households that do have children in school, however, plan to spend more on average in 2019 than last year.