Adapt or perish

In 1945, H.G. Wells wrote, “Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative.” Has this ever been truer than today?

For example, I recently had to visit my physician for an annual check-up for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic landed upon us. Things were much different. Upon entering, there was a person directly inside the front door, providing directions on where to go and what to do. Shortly thereafter, I realized that I was supposed to wait for a phone call for when it was okay for me to come upstairs.

After shamefully walking back to my car, I received a phone call a few minutes later and was told to put on an approved mask and walk up to the second floor, where someone would meet me and escort me into my room. Then after my appointment, this same person would come back to the room and escort me back out of the room, downstairs, and out of the facility.

Long story short – everything was fine with my appointment. But what if it hadn’t been? What if my primary care physician found something concerning? In the current state of the world, we are all forced to adapt. In this case, instead of postponing appointments or doing virtual visits, the physician’s office went to great lengths to make the office safe for people to come in and see their doctor in person, ask questions, and hopefully have peace of mind after the appointment.

On a somewhat related note, the person who told me they would come get me and escort me out of the building never came. I waited 20 minutes, and really wanted to abide by the rules. Eventually I wandered out of the room and out of the building, like a lost child. But I suppose that if I did not adapt in this scenario, I might have sat in that room for quite a long time, wondering how that person could have possibly forgotten about me…

Again, this applies to the machine vision space. Many associations and companies have put out innovative new online platforms for learning and networking in place of tradeshows and conferences. While these will never quite beat an in-person event, they help to bridge the gap between now and the next time we can all meet. In addition, we hope that you find the October issue of the magazine informative and interesting. We’ve covered a wide variety of topics, from telecentric lenses designed for large format, high-resolution image sensors to the 3D inspection of critical aircraft components (as seen on the cover).

Here is to hope that you enjoy the issue and that 2021 will bring us all together again.