Slide 13 of 19

Notes:

In closing, let me make a couple of observations about the political benefits of this project. I have served as the chairman of the vision division of OSA for the past two years when VSIA was under threat for its survival. The leadership of the VSIA community has done a wonderful job in responding to that challenge by re-vitalizing the meeting, which has resulted in increased attendance this year and improved financial posture.

My observation from within the OSA committee structure was that there exists a great deal of goodwill for the vision community within the other divisions of OSA. Even though most of the OSA divisions have little idea what vision research is all about, they acknowledge its importance and they want to see vision research promoted within the OSA framework. Their concern has been that static attendance figures over the last few years may be an indication that the VSIA meeting has run its course, that the applied vision community had shifted emphasis or lost its vitality.

Given this background, I think it is clear that a successful taskforce project to develop standards for specifying optical aberrations of eyes will have several positive outcomes:

• demonstrate the vitality or our community and its willingness to take on a leadership role within the OSA
  
  
• demonstrate the need for, and interest in, future VSIA meetings.
  
  
• build bonds with the other divisions of OSA as we seek their advice and acknowledge the need to agree upon a common language for all optical scientists
  
  
• contribute to the prestige of the OSA organization to which we all belong by setting high standards by which future work will be judged.