GUNNAR Optiks is the first company to develop a total lens and frame solution addressing the needs of the most demanding digital device users.  GUNNAR’s i-AMP lens technology works with and enhances the properties of the human eye when viewing a digital screen.  “We’re passionate about what we do, and we’ll never stop perfecting our product,” said Joe Croft, GUNNAR’s co-founder and EVP of Research & Development. “To date, we’ve developed the best lens concept in the world for this application.  Now we need the talents of the best lens maker in the world to take our ophthalmic technology to the next level.” 
Carl Zeiss Vision will immediately begin adding their expertise to the partnership.  “We see it as a natural fit and a logical alignment,” commented Fred Howard, President, Carl Zeiss Vision, Americas.  “GUNNAR has a unique understanding of the visual demands of a digital lifestyle, which has made the company a force in this industry almost overnight.   ZEISS is world- renowned for precision optics, with the most advanced lens production facilities in the optical industry, and unmatched research and development skills.  We are proud to embark on this exclusive partnership with Gunnar, and excited to become a driving force behind this area of lens innovation.”
The two companies have already agreed upon a co-branding strategy.  “Since GUNNAR has made an immediate impact on younger consumers immersed in the digital world and the ZEISS name carries weight in the optical industry, we each bring something to the table,” noted Howard.  “We could not ask for a better marriage between legendary ZEISS precision optics and GUNNAR’s progressive footprint in the digital revolution.”  GUNNAR’s website, marketing literature, and product branding will carry the ZEISS logo and an explanation of ZEISS’s role in co-developing, designing, and manufacturing i-AMP enabled prescription lenses. 

The partnership allows GUNNAR to concentrate on the future of digital optics while ZEISS provides the engineering behind new digital performance optics innovations.  “GUNNAR is committed to every aspect of a digital lifestyle,” said Croft.  “GUNNAR has already begun research efforts and produced prototypes in 3D technology, augmented reality eyewear, visually activated pointing devices and heads-up displays.  With the help of ZEISS to make these concepts a reality, we’re poised to make the future of digital vision a reality.”

How GUNNARS Work
Digital Performance Eyewear enhances optical performance to give users an immediately noticeable visual advantage.  i-AMP lens technology is an optical platform that includes the following components:
•    diAMIX™ lens material offers an optically pure viewing experience with ultra-light, ergonomic properties; 
•    fRACTYL™ lens geometry mimics nature to aid the natural focusing power of the cornea and lens while creating a preferential ocular microclimate.
•    ZEISS coatings and tints, custom-tuned through GUNNAR’s pROFiLE™ specifications to various digital viewing environments.
GUNNARS are designed to enhance performance, prevent Digital Eye Fatigue (DEF) and protect against Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), a visual condition that negatively impacts 125 million computer users according to the American Optometric Association.
 “It’s not just computer screens,” said Dr. Jeffrey R. Anshel, O.D., GUNNAR Optiks Technical Advisor.  “With cell phones, BlackBerrys, and all sorts of miniature LCD data around, the constant flow of digital data leaves many of us with dry eyes, blurry vision, eye strain and headaches.  With GUNNAR Optiks eyewear, computer users can be more comfortable and more productive for longer periods of time.”
According to the Vision Council of America, nearly 90 percent of those who use a computer at least three hours a day suffer vision problems associated with computer-related eye strain.
A 2004 study at the University of Alabama-Birmingham investigated the link between productivity and exposure to computer screens and found that uncorrected computer vision, even when there are no symptoms, can significantly affect worker productivity and accuracy. With subjects that had focal problems measuring as little as 0.5 diopters, the loss in worker productivity was 8.9 percent, while loss in accuracy measured 38.1 percent.  (Daum, 2004)

About GUNNAR Optiks
GUNNAR Optiks, LLC engineers and produces Digital Performance Eyewear, eyeglasses that enhance and work with the human visual system when viewing computer screens and digital devices.  GUNNAR, a privately held company, was founded in 2005 and officially launched Digital Performance Eyewear in the United States in October, 2008.  GUNNAR is actively seeking international distribution.
About Carl Zeiss Vision, Inc.
Carl Zeiss Vision is a worldwide leader in developing and manufacturing ophthalmic lenses, lens coatings and dispensary technologies.

Premium eyeglass lenses from Carl Zeis s are the result of more than 160 years of advanced research and innovation in all areas of precision optics. For decades, the world’s scientists, doctors, researchers and engineers have relied on optics from Carl Zeiss. From surgical microscopes and lasers to telescopes and lenses used in space exploration, Carl Zeiss is the undisputed expert in premium optics.

Bruce Long - UK

J. Wilson - Tennessee

There is a short adjustment period that your eyes go through, but this is expected given the lens is amber. I’m also more motivated to actually look at the screen and READ, something that I have dreaded up until now.

My recommendation: get a pair ASAP, you will be very, very glad you did!

Fader

X. Vidal
Search Marketing Strategist

Initials only - always protecting the visual advantage
LK

Instead of making people where dorky looking 3D glasses, Gunnar Optiks has shown off stylish 3D glasses. Glasses that you wouldn’t mind being caught wearing outside. The other thing they have done right is making prescription 3D glasses. Instead of putting 3D glasses over your existing prescription glasses, why not just use one pair of glasses. It just makes sense.

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For an increasing number of Americans, life’s a blur.  That’s according to a population-based study published Monday showing that rates of myopia — difficulty seeing distant objects — are soaring. The trend is matched in many other countries, causing eye doctors to wonder what could be causing the decline in human vision.

Some suspect both an increase in our close-up work time (think computer use) and a decrease in time spent outdoors.

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Since work is where I spend the most time staring at a screen, I took my pair of prescription Gunnar glasses with me there. The first and second days I didn’t really notice much of a difference, but mid-afternoon on the third day I suddenly realized that the usual tension in my temples wasn’t there! Even better than that, the background headache I usually get from overhead fluorescent lights hadn’t arrived.

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Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean we’re going to be treated to a wave of new schlocky science-fiction movies and beloved franchises turned 3D with surrealistic effect. (Three Stooges in 3D, anyone?)

Instead peripheral makers, television manufacturers and television channels are all rolling out technology that will likely be obsolete before the decade even hits its teens.

Many of these geewiz gadgets are debuting this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. Just today San Diego-based GUNNAR Optiks, maker of gaming glasses, announced a new line of 3D glasses for gaming.

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Gunnar asks, and rightfully so, why the 3D glasses should be the weakest link in a new, multi-million dollar 3D industry. Their solution is this stylish pair of specs that will be available in several popular 3D formats, ostensibly including versions for polarized and shutter 3D.

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“This is an exciting time for the field of 3D technology,” said Rob Aarnes, Gunnar’s president. “There have been amazing advances in the delivery of the media, but we see a massive need for someone to address the optics of the eyewear. Currently, most eyewear used in 3D systems is either disposable or of low quality construction. With our expertise in optics and our commitment to the digital world, we see the opportunity as a natural fit.”

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There’s some debate over whether Gunnar glasses truly reduce eyestrain. Some people, including a couple of our video editors here at CNET, swear by them, while others say they don’t think they make a real difference. That said, it’s a really smart move for the company to get in on the 3D action, particularly for gaming.

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It’s okay for right now because I’m still relatively young, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to be paying the piper in my old age. And lets not get into how badly I treat my hearing with my love of heavy bass, crisp highs and mids. At the end of the day, hours peering into a comp screen combined with prolonged contact lens wear leave my eyes drier than Las Vegas in the dead of summer.

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We’re now in the second week of our five-week-long contest; this week’s winners will receive a pair of gaming glasses courtesy of this week’s sponsor, Gunnar Optiks.

Each week’s winners are randomly selected from a different group of accounts based on how long they’ve been playing the game.

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They indeed did help, at least for me. The yellow tint of the lenses — which makes everything yellow, as you might expect — takes the edge off the bright white background of most websites and text editors, which is the source of some of the eye fatigue problem.

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Patrick O’Neal

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