Blog
Most eyecare blogs are… well, boring. They read like recycled Wikipedia entries, thinly disguised textbook summaries, or clumsy ads pretending to be education. This blog is different. Here, eye health collides with physics, technology, and curiosity.
Dr. Robert Burke (optometrist and co-founder of Calgary Vision Centre) has spent over 18 years pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in eye care. Known for his obsession with optics, physics, and the math behind human vision, he brings an explorer’s mindset to every topic. Instead of repeating what’s already out there, he reframes the questions and chases the answers down unexpected paths.
This blog is where those deep dives come alive. It’s a place for people who want to understand not just what vision does, but why — and over a million readers have joined that journey so far.
Through Your Baby's Eyes: From Blur to 20/20
Your newborn can pick your face out of a crowd within days — but not because of your eyes, your nose or your smile. It's your hairline. And the world they're seeing while they do it? Blurry, almost colourless, and about 30 centimetres deep. We built an interactive that lets you see through your baby's eyes, from before birth to kindergarten. Drag the slider and watch your own face come into focus.
I’ve Prescribed Neurolens 400+ Times for BVD. Here’s What I Think.
After three years and 400+ Neurolens prescriptions, I’ve become convinced they can be remarkable in the right patient.
One number keeps sticking with me: fewer than 5% of my patients return them, despite the lenses costing roughly $900–$1,200 and my offering a 100% money-back guarantee if they don’t provide enough benefit.
So why do clinical trials show a much more modest average improvement?
I think part of the answer may be surprisingly simple: finding the right patient.
Here’s what 400+ prescriptions have taught me about Neurolens, what the science says, what it may be missing, and why I’ve become increasingly bullish on this technology.
The People Who See Perfectly May Have Lost the Most
What if having perfect vision is actually one reason some eye diseases get missed? Glaucoma can quietly damage the optic nerve for years while you still read the eye chart perfectly, feel fine, and have no reason to suspect anything is wrong. Research suggests people who go longer between eye exams are more likely to have glaucoma discovered at a more advanced stage. So oddly enough, the people who never need glasses may be the ones with the least reason to get checked, and the most opportunity for a silent problem to stay silent.
100,000 Prescriptions, Mapped
Imagine a glasses-prescription galaxy. At the centre sit the people who need no prescription at all , one of the most common groups of all. Around them, other prescriptions take their place as a star: the stronger the Rx, the further it drifts from centre; the more common the Rx, the larger its star. I pulled the last 100,000 glasses prescription I have written to see what this would look like.
Three Patients score 20/20. At Night, Only One Sees the Pedestrian.
Driving at 100 km/h, one of them detects a dark-clothed pedestrian a full 32 seconds before the other. Same eye chart. Same score. Half a minute of missing awareness and a reason your eye exam might not be telling you the whole story.
Who’s Eyeballs Are Secretly Stored in a New York City Safety Deposit Box?
Take our interactive quiz to see how well you know the medical, historical, and surprisingly human stories behind famous people and their vision.
The Future of Multifocal Contact Lenses (Inspired by the Past)
If you are frustrated with progressive glasses, or you want to wear contact lenses but are tired of not being able to read with them, you have probably been told that multifocal contacts “just don’t work.” It may be time to reconsider. Some newer multifocal designs lean on an older optical principle, and that shift appears to be creating a genuine step change in how well these lenses perform.
The Five Second Glasses Test That Predicts a Dry Eye Day
Your eyes start drying out long before you feel it. This five second glasses test helps you spot when your environment is quietly working against you, so you can act early instead of dealing with miserable eyes at the end of the day.
When Did Headlights Get This Bright? Should I Be Wearing Night Driving Glasses?
If every nighttime commute feels like you’re being interrogated by oncoming headlights, you’re probably wondering whether night driving glasses are worth a try. Before you click “Add to Cart,” here’s the honest breakdown.
The Truth about Eye Vitamins
Most people walk past the multivitamin aisle wondering if they’re being irresponsible adults for not grabbing a bottle with a name like Ultra Vision Shield Maximum Defense See Forever. But when you trace where these eye vitamins came from, what they were actually tested on, and who they were meant for, the whole thing becomes a lot less mysterious.
You Need Glasses… Will Your Kids?
You spent your childhood outdoors, with zero TikTok and still ended up wearing glasses. Now your kid spends eight hours a day staring at YouTube thumbnails from six inches away. What chance do they have? This new calculator combines decades of myopia research to find out.
Hitting Fastballs, Not Sliders: Polarized Sunglasses Explained
Polarized light is like a pitcher throwing endless sliders: distracting, overwhelming, and hard to track. Polarized sunglasses filter out the junk, leaving only the clean, useful “fastballs” your eyes can actually use.
Is the Screen You Are Reading This on Frying Your Eyes with Blue Light?
We spend hours glued to screens every day, and it feels like all that blue light must be harmful. But how much actually reaches your retina? And how does a full workday at a monitor stack up to blue exposure from the outdoors?
Why “Ocular Migraines” Probably Aren’t What You Think
Ever been told you had an “ocular migraine”? Chances are, that is not what really happened. In this post, we break down what those zigzags and blind spots actually mean, why “ocular migraine” is usually a misused label, how to tell the difference between harmless aura and eye emergencies.