BRATTLEBORO, Vt. -
You can't go far without hearing about 3-D lately. From the movie theaters to home viewing, there are several different kinds of technologies out there, including one that's made right here in Vermont.
From the outside it looks just like an ordinary Vermont business. But inside, it's anything but that.
"Omega Optical is a company that solves problems," said the Brattleboro-based company's President, Bob Johnson.
For the past 40 years Omega Optical has been making high tech solutions for all kinds of problems. The company specializes in making lenses -- everything from eye glasses to outer space telescopes.
"I'm a unique category of non-degree scientists," said Johnson, the man behind the madness. "I started out after saving up 10-thousand and we now produce 10-thousand an hour."
Omega is currently working on a new approach to solar energy and a cancer detection technique that will allow surgeons to identify cancerous cells in real time. But their latest product is a little more depth defying. It's 3-D technology that they say is better than anything else out there. The human eye sees best with white light, and that's exactly what they take advantage of to get the best picture.
"We take all the light and divide into a left eye and right eye but it's so finely divided its like a comb so both eyes see full white but they're uniquely different," Johnson said.
It's a high tech process that they say makes the 3-D viewing experience much cleaner. No more fluttering, polarization, silver screen hot spots or headaches that other technology might cause. They sell the technology to Disney, Sony and other theaters around the globe.
Omega optical also offers viewers the 3-D experience from their couch. Consumers can buy the kit for 350-dollars, which includes two projector filters and lenses for 3-D glasses.
They call themselves mad scientists in a precise way. Vaporizing glass into gas which coat the lenses and filters to an exact thickness -- within the billionths. Omega has invested over 3-million in this 3-D technology so far. It's an invention that's making Vermont stand out.
"It is impressive, but Vermont has a lot of attraction for the people and the environment for people to do their own thing and do better than anywhere else," Johnson said.
