By Angela Fischels
January 11, 2022
I love going to the eye doctor so I can buy new frames, said no one, ever. Lookable Stores and its ecommerce site, mylookable.com (currently under development) changes the mundane task of buying eyewear to a fun and social experience. The stores utilize facial scanning technology that creates a 3D image of a customer’s face so they can virtually try-on unlimited pairs of frames. For customers needing a prescription, telehealth equipment is available in the store. The Lookable brand puts the customer front and center with their goal to give customers more choices and flexibility without making an appointment with a traditional eye doctor. Lookable will also be offering tiered monthly memberships catered to customers’ needs and buying preferences. Transformation.
Not only is Lookable transforming the way people purchase eyewear, but in one case, Lookable has literally changed the life of one of its own employees.
Shawn Hing was among the first employees hired by Lookable, but during training, management noticed he had become decidedly quiet and saw him struggle with detailed work on the equipment. Shawn, they learned, was highly myopic as well as having Keratoconus. Myopia is near-sightedness. Keratoconus occurs when the cornea bulges into a cone causing blurred vision and sensitivity to light.
Lookable management connected Shawn with Dr. Christopher Gentile, a LION Eye Group practice on Long Island. When Shawn met Dr. Gentile, his best corrected acuity with his glasses was OD: 20/100 and OS: 20/200. In layman’s terms, he was legally blind. He was fitted with scleral contact lenses and now his best corrected acuity is 20/25 in each eye. Transformation.
Shawn could not be happier with his experience with Lookable, and the LION Eye Group. Here is his story.
“Prior to seeing Dr. Gentile, I was miserable. Not because of eye disease but because at the time, I was wearing semi-rigid contact lenses and despite being initially excited to get them, the elation was short-lived. Within a few weeks, my vision had become spotty and the lenses physically uncomfortable to wear. I thought maybe I’d mixed up the left-right prescription, by putting one in the opposite eye mistakenly. No, I had the lenses matched correctly. My vision was not as sharp as when I first started wearing them. There were air bubbles, dryness, and irritation. I wanted to scream in frustration. I felt helpless. Taking breaks didn’t help. It was the same lousy experience time and again.
Worse, I had a terrible time driving at night. It was getting dangerous as I couldn’t see my surroundings. I was driving more from guesswork and memory rather than sight because I couldn’t make out what was around me. To compensate I drove only during daylight.
The ability to see screens or anything more than a few feet away was challenging. I pretended to have good vision, but I knew deep down that wasn’t reality. Others did too because they would tell me I needed glasses whenever I asked for help determining what I was looking at- or when they would see me squinting within inches of something. This was while I was wearing my contact lenses.
My employer, Lookable wanted to help my eyesight and efficiency on the job, so they put me in touch with Dr. Gentile of South Nassau Eye Care. It was a blessing from above. The scleral lenses he prescribed gave me a new lease on life. Like eyes transplanted from a donor with 20/20 vision. A whole new world opened for me. I had no idea how things really looked until now (and seeing my aged face in the mirror was my only regret!) I can comfortably drive at night, read, and see from a distance. Yes, yes, yes. Life is so much smoother with improved vision. Dr. Gentile has truly transformed my vision, confidence, and my life.” Transformation.