As we wrap up the meeting season, and I start folks on Q4, I've contemplated many of the standout technological innovations on display at this year's industry meetings. I mean, especially in tandem with some of the fascinating and somewhat controversial lectures that were all focused on the AI revolution. Well, the net result of my observation is both true awe and absolute concern. Let's deal with the awesome first.
I often think back to a decade ago when many of the technologies we have today were considered futuristic some days. In many cases, even the most future forward thinkers could not have even imagined them. I mean, a few years ago, almost no one had heard of much less contemplated the term aculomics. We were all just happy in our lanes, focusing on eye care needs, with a little focus on what was going on in the rest of the body.
Fast forward to 2025, and we're talking about diagnostic tests that compare into the intermetabolic workings of the body. We're having conversations about changing what we do from which is better one or two to we're here to screen for neurogeneralize that might impact your life a decade from now. Wow, that's a different conversation. Technologies like autonomous refracting systems, autonomous slit lamps, AI embedded OCT technologies, and cross-platform access tools all seem like this just monumental leap from 25 years ago when we were just trying to figure out what an OCT was, much less how to read it.
We thought of using retinal screening technology or a digital refracting system back then was considered hypocrisy, and we believe that telemedicine was a phone call to a patient. And on the retail side of industry, we're seeing just as many inspiring products. I mean, everyone has AI embedded lens technologies these days, and smart glasses 2.0 started that revolution, started about a decade ago with the failed Google Glass project, and today it's evolved where multiple companies have augmented reality and heads up display, also known as HUD, that may change the way we interact with the world and the way the world interacts with us. The rate of change and the scope of innovation are truly awesome.
But let's not pat ourselves on the back quite yet. We, no offense, are mere minos in this very big ocean in many ways. So let's talk first about what's the greatest threat to the status quo. Well, at a recent meeting, I attended a speaker put a quote on the screen that I just can't get out of my head.
It said, in business, you're either at the table or on the menu. Now as I attended several meetings and listened to people talking the halls, I started to get a little concerned about which position our industry is in. As humans, we don't want to face harsh truths. Our egos and other biases give us this false thought that, well, we're at the head of the table.
We're in command until it's too late and we realize, no, we're just on the menu. I think we're heading into some dangerous territory fueled by comfortable apathy and pessimistic inaction. There's one thing that's true from an evolutionary standpoint. Change is inevitable.
We as an industry need to keep our minds and our eyes open. For an example, private equities change the landscape of the Ikea industry, and with this change has come a loss of autonomy and decision making at a local level and really even a regional level. But I'm not singling out private equity candidly. They're baitfish in this big ocean and the sharks, they're starting to enter the feeding frenzy.
So, when you think about it, Ikea is really a very small player on the health stage, but we're even minuscule compared to the consumer electronics and telecommunications world. Now, if you think about this, there's a reason that Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta and many other players are investing billions in interactive Ikea. AI infrastructure and big data. I believe, my opinion, that I see a world where humans are not tethered to heads down phone technology or a computer and a keyboard.
They foresee a world where we all interact with the world and it interacts with us via heads up display fueled by powerful AI. They see a fundamental shift in consumer behavior and acceptance that we haven't seen since the invention of the internet and the iPhone. Now, as Ikea providers, it will still largely be our domain to interact at a human level with people to help them see the world clearly. But advances in telemedicine make me wonder where that interaction will take place.
Innovations in diagnostic technologies and shared knowledge platforms make me curious about how these interactions will take place in the near future. Will it even remotely resemble the care in the lane model that we have today? Or will we look back a decade from now and see today's model as antiquated as trial frames, caretometers, glass photo-grade line by focals and RK? Now transformation in the retail space changes in the world, where and how retail purchasing will occur and what the future of the optical might look like.
Now imagine this, imagine frames 3D printed at home that fit our personalized lenses. Or maybe opticals will look more like consumer electronics stores where you get to pick which color and style of frame you want for your heads up display. Not unlike the way we pick a mobile device protector case today. So what's the solution?
I think it's collaboration and maybe stark reality. So after this, do I have your attention and maybe a little bit of your curiosity? Innovation tends to disrupt the status quo when players get comfortable, become apathetic and distracted. I think we're there.
I think as an industry we need to drop the politics of what initials are behind your name and what type of facility we work in and start collaborating to shape our collective futures. In essence, we need to decide if we want to step up to the table or for comfortable being on the menu.