Nationally, 2010 was not a boring year. And, judging by the past year’s news articles in Review, the last 12 months have been filled with plenty of professional stunners too. But, optometry isn’t only being featured in professional news. You’re garnering some novel mainstream headlines as well.

In fact, two eye care products joined iPad on Time’s list of the 50 Best Inventions of 2010. The first, the new specs created by Oakley Inc. and DreamWorks Animation, is for 3D movie lovers. In case you haven’t noticed, 3D glasses significantly reduce the brightness of an image (by as much as 50%, Time says). This new invention, however, uses “optically correct lenses,” which means more clarity and less ghosting. The magazine also gives special mention to Samsung, which is said to be releasing prescription glasses for its 3D TVs. That means ophthalmic lens wearers won’t have to wear two pair of glasses to watch a film.

Time’s other eye care-related pick, The EyeWriter, allows people suffering from any kind of neuromuscular syndrome to write and draw by tracking their eye movement and translating it to lines on a screen. The technology, which uses low-cost eye-tracking glasses and open-source software, could be a huge help for individuals suffering from diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s in which your brain is active, but your body isn’t. The EyeWriter is a collaboration from the Ebeling Group, the Not Impossible Foundation and Graffiti Research Lab.

In other mainstream news this year, optometry was named as one of the top 100 professions of 2010, according to Money Magazine and Payscale.com. With a median pay of $108,000, optometrists have the 20th highest paying job in the country, and the profession was ranked 56th on the Best Jobs in America list. What’s more: Optometry was rated 10th in the magazine’s Least Stressful Jobs category.

So, pat yourselves on the back. It’s been a great year and it looks like it’s only going to keep getting better!