If Batman wore contact lenses...

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Dan E Kool
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Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2017 1:08 am

If Batman wore contact lenses...

Post by Dan E Kool »

...he'd probably have an ultrasonic Bat-lens cleaner in his utility belt.

(Obviously Batman has perfect vision, so this is a nonsensical hypothetical proposition! Maybe Robin needs vision correction? One can never be too prepared?)

A couple days ago I launched a project on Kickstarter to make such a contact lens cleaner. You can check it out here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vi ... ns-cleaner

Perhaps "make" is the wrong word. "Recreate" is much closer to the truth. This is a design that my father developed 32 years ago for a company called CooperVision. My goal is to make a small batch, limited edition of his original design as a way of paying tribute to him. I think that what he developed is still the most convenient way to clean contacts, and that his design deserves to be remembered.

Let me know what you think!
- Boy Genius
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A. Pennyworth
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Re: If Batman wore contact lenses...

Post by A. Pennyworth »

Being a B&L lens wearer for 40 years now I sure could have used this product in the past. With the throw away dailies and 2 week lens these days I don't think at least for me that cleaning is an issue. The design is fantastic and I may just contribute. How interesting that it looks like a Pokeman ball. Is that his original design? Was pokeman around back then? maybe a trademark infrinment on their part? Great that you are bringing your fathers idea to fruition.
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Dan E Kool
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Re: If Batman wore contact lenses...

Post by Dan E Kool »

A. Pennyworth wrote: Thu Nov 11, 2021 4:37 pm Being a B&L lens wearer for 40 years now I sure could have used this product in the past. With the throw away dailies and 2 week lens these days I don't think at least for me that cleaning is an issue. The design is fantastic and I may just contribute. How interesting that it looks like a Pokeman ball. Is that his original design? Was pokeman around back then? maybe a trademark infrinment on their part? Great that you are bringing your fathers idea to fruition.
Thanks, AP!

Interestingly, he made this product out of California for about 13 years until 2001, and his first international distributing partner was in... Japan! So this contact lens cleaner was available in Japan for about 5 years or so before the games came out.

But the two designs, while visually similar, were inspired totally different things. His contact lens cleaner is made to recall the human eye, whereas the Pokemon design is based on collectible vending machine capsules that are popular in Japan. I think that both my dad and the game designers just got the proportions right in a visually pleasing way, and that this is the ideal form for a ball that opens from the top and has a single, central button.

He was told by lawyers at the time that there was no trademark or design copyrights case, since the two designs were for such unrelated markets.

I wear monthly lenses and many of my backers say they wear RGP lenses, which last much longer. You're right that we benefit more from this than a daily disposable wearer. But even some biweekly wearers would get some use out of it, if protein deposits are an issue.
- Boy Genius
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