Assorted Eyes

The usefulness of eyes is as various as their color. A man may be unable to judge the speed of distant motion, yet be a good inspector of small parts. Most eyes have an aptitude for some special type of vision --distant or near, wide or narrow angled; or for the judgment of space, shape or motion; or for rapid change of focus. Industry stands to profit by selecting eyes for special jobs, adjust jobs to the eyes available.

Measuring these skills has been largely the work of two scientists--Ophthalmologist Hedwig Stieglitz Kuhn* of Hammond, Ind., and Dr. Joseph Tiffin, Purdue psychologist. For 20 years Dr. Kuhn has studied all sorts of eyes used and misused in the vast Calumet industrial region south of Chicago. Five years ago Dr. Tiffin began to correlate visual skills and job analysis. This week, as a result of their work, the optical firm of Bausch & Lomb announced that it was offering a new visual service to industry, using a new instrument, the Ortho-Rater.

The device measures visual performance in a dozen regards, reveals exactly what an employe can or cannot do, with or without glasses. Results: discovery of defects which require professional help, shifting of employes to better-fitting jobs, reduction of turnover, salvaging of aging workers, increased production.

This week Bausch & Lomb's competitor, American Optical Co., also announced a new eye tester, less general in purpose but useful in wartime. It reveals the lack of good night vision so valuable in fighting men.

*Daughter of the late great Chemist Julius O. Stieglitz, niece of famed Photographer Alfred Stieglitz.

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