Peakvision Lens Technology

 

 

 

 

Works for Baseball too!  Major League Baseball tested the lenses for distortion, optical clarity, eye fatigue, visual acuity and speed of perception. They were so pleased with the results that they purchased the  sunglasses for every Major League Umpire.

Traditional sunglasses marketed in the performance eyewear category are faced with a choice of which lighting condition to sub-optimize. No single lens color can simultaneously address the range of light conditions encountered in a typical day outside. Protection from glare caused by a bright sky, sunny or overcast, requires a darker lens filter. However, a dark filter dramatically reduces the visual cues from the surface environment. A typical green grass surface reflects only 2% of the ambient light. Other sunglass manufacturers address this problem with interchangeable lenses based on weather and lighting conditions. Unfortunately, this is not an effective solution as most athletes are not willing to change lenses in the middle of an activity.

Golfers are particularly impacted by the lens filter selected. While a gray neutral-density lens reduces the glare from overhead sun (or an overcast day as well), it filters out much of the visual information needed to see the contours of a green putting surface. An amber lens enhances a golfer's ability to visualize the variations on the green, however amber lenses tend to flatten distance perception and do little to protect a golfer's eyes from bright light.

Skiers as well have unique needs in performance eyewear. Exposure to bright sunlight reflected off of the snow during a day of skiing depletes rhodopsin (an enzyme produced in the rods and cones of the retina) and causes night vision blindness. A neutral-density gray lens will reduce the glare but does not effectively prevent night vision blindness. Additionally, the neutral-density gray also limits a skier's ability to read the contours of the slopes and competitively maneuver the fall line terrain. A vermillion lens will limit rhodopsin depletion and prevent night vision blindness while highlighting the fall line terrain which enhances a skier's ability to read the contours of the slopes. However, vermillion lenses alone will do little to protect a skier's eyes from glare associated with the sun and bright sky.

In addition to the challenges associated with single filter lens, most sunglass lenses today are injection-molded polycarbonate (plastic), a 40 year old manufacturing technology. This technology, while producing light weight and inexpensive lenses, also produces lenses with very poor optical clarity. The distortion created during injection molding is a visible and pervasive artifact of all current performance sunglass lenses and also interferes with the ability to visualize contours and estimate distances. The graphic to the right shows a pair of our competitor's sunglasses (bottom) and PeakVision Sports Performance Eyewear through an optics viewer that displays optical distortion as a rainbow effect.

To address the distortion in injection-molded polycarbonate lenses, PeakVision�Sports utilizes a new material called NXT This new material provides clarity equivalent to optical glass at less than 40% of the weight, while offering scratch and shatter resistance far superior to traditional polycarbonate lenses. Additionally, NXT offers 100% UV400 protection!

PeakVision Sports incorporates two different technologies into a noticeably unique and differentiated lens by integrating multiple color management filters into a sport lens made from a revolutionary new optical polymer.

PeakVisionSports developed the patented Dual-Zone filtration that utilizes different filters in two zones of a sunglass lens. In the upper zone, neutral-density gray filtration eliminates overhead glare from the sun and enhances distance perception. Through precise color and light management technology, PeakVisionSport's upper gray zone gradually transitions into an amber lower zone which enhances a golfer's ability to read the topography of the green. For skiers, the upper gray zone transitions into a vermillion lower zone.

Our patented Dual-Zone lens addresses the number one challenge facing sunglass wearers no single color filter can simultaneously address the extremes of light conditions always encountered with a bright sky and darker terrain. Our lens balances the light to reduce the workload on the iris (which manages the pupil). By reducing the range in which the iris must operate, the eye is less fatigued and more stable. The enhanced stability delivers better vision over the course of a day. Dr. Burton Worrell, a UC Berkeley Professor and the eye doctor for Major League Baseball Umpires, evaluated our sunglasses and substantiated our claims!

 

Dual-Zone HYBRID Optics
    º 20%t Neutral-Gray Upper Zone Manages Glare
    º 60%t Amber Lower Zone Increases Contrast
    º 52 abbe Value for sunglasses with Zero-Distortion clarity comparable to Crown Glass
    º Impact-Resistant Safety
    º Anti-Reflective Backside Coating
    º Super-Hydrophobic Liquid Repellent Coating
    º Oleophobic Smudge-Resistant Coating
    º 100% UV400 Protection

 

PEAKPolar2™ HYBRID Optics

 

º 15%t Neutral-Gray Upper Zone Manages Glare
º 40%t Amber Lower Zone Increases Contrast 
º 52 abbe Value for sunglasses with Zero-Distortion clarity comparable to Crown Glass
º Impact-Resistant Safety
º Anti-Reflective Backside Coating
º Super-Hydrophobic Coating
º Oleophobic Smudge-Resistant Coating
º 100% UV400 Protection