MAFO - 01/2023

GAME CHANGER

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Anything but dull I

n the past few years, we have learned how our familiar surroundings can suddenly be turned upside down. How what we have come to expect can change from one day to the next. How Plan A is only as good as the best alternatives: Plan B and Plan C. Most companies can no longer afford to remain in their comfort zones. Even wellestablished companies have to be versatile.

We wish you all the best for 2023, good luck and good health! And resilience, too. May you have the courage to embark on new projects, and the strength to make the best of the given circumstances. One thing is sure: 2023 will certainly not be a boring year, but a challenging one. Perhaps even a year of great opportunity?

At MAFO we are looking forward to 2023, and in particular to personal exchanges with you, our readers. What are you interested in? What should we be reporting on? Please let us know what you think.

Or visit us at MAFO – The Conference in Milan on February 3rd (one day before Mido) under the motto "Lab Visions". Find out what the industry is talking about. You can expect a wideranging program of technical presentations and a panel discussion, as well as the opportunity to exchange ideas with others once again.

And, of course, in this issue we have done our best to report on the most exciting topics in the industry at the moment. Find out more about the current state of development of flat lenses and their potential use, for example, as hybrid lenses for people with very high diopter numbers, in AR glasses or as lenses that can be printed out at the optician’s in 15 minutes, as Anders Kristensen envisions in his Odyssey project.

We also talked to Dan Scarfe, who asked why people who are hard-of-hearing can take subtitles for granted when watching television but haven’t any similar support in real life. The solution is an application for AR glasses that displays subtitles, translates them and makes listening easier, thanks to an assistance function.

Also, read about how color perception can be improved for people with color vision deficiencies. And find out about how Google can be used to good effect for advertising, and about the current state of glasses for myopia management. ◆

Hanna Diewald Chief editor

THE CONFERENCE

Lab Visions

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Imagining the future of the ophthalmic industry

MAFO - The Conference 2023 Date: February 03, 2023

Location: Fiera Milano Rho in Milano/Italy

Catch the Early bird discount: € 399,- per person by booking until January 08, 2023

Registration

The regular fee of € 490,- includes attendance at MAFO - The Conference, all refreshments, lunch and champagne reception.

If you book 3 delegates, the rate is € 333,- per person.

(Please note that reservations are subject to VAT in the respective countries of booking.)

Easy registration: please go to ticket.mafo-optics.com

All about you

from the international ophthalmic industry

Rodenstock to sell its eyewear business to De Rigo

Additionally, NOW by Vision Expo, the trends showcase that debuted at Vision Expo East 2022, will return at Vision Expo East 2023. Expanding on last year’s showcase, which featured eyewear trends, the 2023 trends showcase will also feature new innovations in fashion lenses and lens technologies.

Horizons Optical launches new offices in Spain

The Rodenstock Group has reached an agreement to sell its eyewear business to De Rigo, a family-owned global market leader in the design, production, and distribution of high-quality eyewear. The transaction is expected to be completed towards the end of second quarter of 2023. Having carefully examined different options, the Rodenstock management is taking the strategic decision to sell the eyewear business, thereby achieving another major step on its transformational path to become a leading MedTech company in vision care. Rodenstock will continue to invest in its R&D capabilities as well as product and service portfolio to best meet its customer’s needs, and further strengthen its leadership position in biometric lenses. Rodenstock and De Rigo are trusted, long-standing business partners. According to Rodenstock, De Rigo is ideally positioned to further drive the development of the eyewear business and strengthen its brands Rodenstock Eyewear and Porsche Design Eyewear. Both companies will closely work together to ensure a smooth transition and business continuity for employees, customers, and business partners.

Registration open for Vision Expo East

The conference and exhibit hall registration is open for Vision Expo East 2023, taking place March 16–19, 2023 in New York City at the Javits Center. The show’s organizers, The Vision Council and RX, are planning a robust show experience, including an engaging programming and a premier education program. The show’s conference program, developed by the education planning committee together with the OptiCon advisory board, will open March 16, and the exhibit hall will open March 17. VEE 2023 will debut a reimagined and more unified show floor layout. All of Vision Expo’s show floor neighborhoods will be located on level three of the Javits Center.

After opening a subsidiary in the USA last summer, Horizons Optical has opened new offices in Sant Cugat del Valles, a municipality close to the city of Barcelona and the airport, in October 2022. The building is located in a business hub that has economic activity and leading companies in new technologies, software development, financial services, health and other services. The new space has capacity for 80 people in the offices and an R&D laboratory. It also has space for user tests and optical trials receiving more than 300 test users every year. Horizons has incorporated state-of-the-art equipment for the analysis and evaluation of the optical quality of the solutions it offers and to be able to continue offering first-rate lens designs and anti-reflective coatings. The company reports that it continues its path of growth with sustained figures that have exceeded 40% in 2021 and will reach 60% in 2022 compared to the previous year, almost doubling the number of laboratories that trust Horizons' innovative solutions.

Correction

We made a mistake in MAFO issue 06/22: On page 17 in the article "Growth and innovation – Optimal Technologies celebrates 25th anniversary", we have mislabeled a picture. We apologize for this error. Here again the photo with the correct caption.

Photo: Rodenstock

David Roberts (CCO) and Dean Thompson (CEO). Photo: Optimal Technologies

THE CONFERENCE

Special topic: Lab Visions

Imagining the future of the ophthalmic industry

MAFO - The Conference 2023

Date: Friday, February 3rd, 2023 (one day before Mido) Location: Fiera Milano Rho (Italy) Chairman: Peter Baumbach

François Breton Schneider All you wanted to know about ultrasonic cleaning of lenses

Pau Artus Horizons Optical

Xavier Bultez & Michael Kreis Satisloh

Virtual reality to revolutionize the customer journey in optical stores

How digitalization and the internet of things will shape the lab of the future

Mo Jalie University Ulster Cylindrical power for near vision

Sandra Stry Schneider

Gaetano Volpe ProCrea Tech

Ultimate, all-in automation: The power-lab of the next decade

From nominal power to the metaverse. A journey through 20 years of freeform surfaces.

Paperless production – challenging lab and LMS

Daniel Crespo IOT & Thomas Zangerlé Automation & Robotics

A game changer in lens quality control thanks to objective and automated visual inspection

Panel discussion

Imagining the future of the ophthalmic industry Panelists:

Devon Abblitt (Quantum Innovations); Georg Mayer (Rodenstock), Mark Mackenzie (Strategy with Vision); Mo Jalie (University Ulster)

Christopher Diez LensWare

All about products

Innovations and working materials for your lab

SCHNEIDER appoints François Breton to manage the Chemical Department. Effective November 14th, 2022, Francois Breton joins SCHNEIDER to manage and further develop the Chemical Department. “We are excited to have Francois on our team. With his excellent knowledge and years of experience in the chemical industry, he is a great asset for our development of new technologies”, says CEO and founder Gunter Schneider. Breton has a PhD in Organic Chemistry, is well-known for his great expertise with lacquers and looks back on 23 years of experience in the Optical Industry. Before joining SCHNEIDER, he founded multiple global Joint Ventures, e.g. with the Institute of Nanotechnology of Tatarstan, Russia. “I am very happy to now be a part of SCHNEIDER, which is considered to be the most innovative optical manufacturing company in the world”, Breton says, “and I am excited for what the future holds”. Visit www.schneider-om.com

From February 4th to 6th Fiera Milano Rho will host MIDO 2023

In six pavilions, one more than the previous edition, MIDO will be able to welcome the increased number of companies that will take part to the 51st edition. The trade fair returns to its ‘traditional’ location with stands in pavilions 1 and 3, 2 and 4, 6 and 10. Greater efforts will be dedicated to the Otticlub area, which is where the industry meetings take place, dedicated to information and education, a congress hall for seminars, workshops, presentations, events and conferences on vision and the optical sector for those who do not want to miss out on the latest news. To honor sustainability in the global eyewear industry, MIDO in partnership with ANFAO and Certottica, has established the CSE award (Certified Sustainable Eyewear) that allows all exhibitors at MIDO 2023 to participate in this first edition of the award by nominating a pair of sunglasses, eyewear frames or an eyewear case. An international panel of expert judges will evaluate the competing products which, to qualify for a win, must have been produced in compliance with the principles of sustainability. To participate, exhibitors at MIDO 2023 must complete the online form, available from 15 December 2022 to 15 January 2023 in the “Take Part” section of the official website: www.mido.com. Starting on December 15th, exhibitors can download the Regulations, review all of the judging criteria and submit their nomination.

HARD COATING AT BEST PURE TECHNOLOGY

Technique. Safety. Expertise.

CDS 1000

The fully automated CDS 1000 is the most reliable hard coating machine. Producing up to 160 lenses/h, it is a perfect fit for medium and large size labs. It features six cleaning tanks and offers continuous and fast processing without any batching. Varnishing takes place by thermal polymerization. An automatic refill system provides consistent and stable process control - keeping detergent and varnish tanks at the same level and condition. A unique water cascading and filtrating system enables city water savings up to 75%, making the CDS 1000 an environmentally-friendly coater.

How can color perception be improved for people with color vision deficiencies?

Almost four million people suffer from some sort of color blindness

Everyone knows what a relief it is for someone wearing corrective glasses to suddenly be able to see clearly again, or for someone with a hearing aid suddenly to be able to hear properly again. But can color blindness be improved in a similar way? By Sascha Ruschenburg, Heike Steinmüller and Erich Kasten

In addition to color blindness from birth, due to a lack of corresponding cones in the eye, color blindness may also occur later on, e.g. caused by degenerative diseases of the retina or optic nerve. Recognizing colors is one of the most important aspects of visual perception; however, red-green visual impairment or color blindness affects about 9% of all men and about 0.8% of women. In Germany, this amounts to about 3.5 million men and over 300,000 women who would benefit if color perception could be improved. For these people, the act of seeing is a source of constant stress, as the brain tries to extract as much information as possible from inadequate color perception. This is exhausting, comparable to a person with impaired hearing who only understands half of what is being said and has to deduce the rest. As with a hearing disorder, poor vision has a long-term effect on the brain, one becomes tired more easily, more exhausted and prone to frequent headaches. One of the best-known early studies on how to improve color perception was published in 1997 by Dr. David Harris. Based on this, as early as 2002 Sascha Ruschenburg began to document initial efforts to correct color perception in color-impaired people with dyslexia in studies using "ChromaGen" with positive effects. In 2015, Ruschenburg conducted another study in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Erich Kasten (Medical School Hamburg) and optometrist Sylvia Hergert, which showed that correcting color perception in a group of people with proven color impairment had a positive impact on the frequency and severity of migraine attacks when they were provided with specially adapted colored spectacle lenses.

Pilot finally allowed to fly internationally Anecdotally, the story of the following patient prompted the authors of this article to look more closely at the topic of improving color perception. Sascha Ruschenburg reported, "In 2017 I received a call from a pilot. He had a German pilot's license which allowed him to fly within Germany. However he was very slightly color blind which prevented him getting an international pilot's license. We were able to correct his color vision using specially prescribed tinted spectacle lenses, which

led to his being granted his international pilot's license provided he wore this corrective aid. About a year later, the patient came in for a checkup, and lo-and-behold his color perception had improved over time! A re-examination by the international flight authority confirmed this finding and the pilot received his license, this time without any additional conditions attached. His perception of color is now so good that he no longer needs color correction to fly internationally!"

Do tinted glasses really improve color perception?

Our next step was to check whether the effect found in the pilot could also be demonstrated in other people who had participated in previous studies: Does wearing spectacle lenses that enhance color perception improve the brain’s ability to process colors in general, i.e. even without the visual aid? A follow-up study (with additional data acquisition) yielded 11 datasets. These patients initially had an average color recognition without corrective aids of 5.9 plates in the Ishihara color test and an average color recognition without corrective aids of 12.6 plates at the follow-up stage after about a year. This represents a significant improvement by a good factor of two. However, the Ishihara test is subject to a learning effect and in this study the Farnsworth test, which can reveal color recognition weaknesses much more sensitively, was not yet included. Based on these initial results, a study was now planned under more rigorous conditions. The aim was to determine whether color vision can be corrected and whether it could even be improved in a long term without glasses, and thus be learnable?

For the study, 24 participants were found, with ages ranging from 18 to 76 years old. In talking to the participants, it soon became clear that most of them were fairly skeptical about any attempt to improve their color perception. This may also explain the low number of volunteers willing to take part – in accordance with Christian Morgenstern’s principle, "that which must not, cannot be" – it is considered that color perception cannot be corrected, let alone learnt.

From the initial questionnaire for the study, it was evident that a deficit in color perception of those affected led to numerous disadvantages in their daily lives. Many spoke of hazards in road traffic,

Fig. 1: Example of an Ishihara plate. People with unimpaired color vision recognize a 6, while people with impaired red-green recognition do not see anything.

for example, due to not seeing red cars against a green background, others talked of disadvantages in their professional lives, due to an inability to understand colored images. Laser pointers during lectures didn’t show up against a green background, a draftsman had to have drawings specially made for him so he could read them. But even small things, such as playing "Uno" with one's children or choosing clothes which didn’t ‘clash’, proved difficult too.

In the initial examination of the 24 participants, after the socio-demographic data had been collected, their current color perception was tested by means of the book version of the Ishihara plates (see Fig. 1) and then using a Farnsworth test (see Fig 2.). For the Ishihara test, only

Fig. 2: Farnsworth color test (15 tile version). The 15 tiles have to be arranged in the correct order.

spontaneous recognition of the plates was counted as correct; with the Farnsworth test, subjects were allowed three minutes to sort the color plates in the correct order. None of the participants were completely color blind, however all had significant color recognition deficiencies.

256 instead of 16 tints due to two lenses

Following the initial examination, color vision correction was performed by trying 16 different colored lenses. First, the non-dominant eye was corrected using the lens perceived as optimal from the range of 16 lenses available. Then the dominant eye (leading eye) was corrected in the same way. After the dominant eye had been fitted, the non-dominant eye was then corrected again in order to improve color perception further. Finally, a similar procedure was followed again on the dominant eye. This resulted in a combination of two of the 16 possible colors for each eye (see Fig. 3). By combining two colored lenses in each case, the spectrum of different shades for individual adaptation was increased from 16 to 256 possible tints.

Fig. 3a (left): Using 16 differently tinted lenses, color perception was systematically varied until the patient felt an improvement in color perception in both eyes. The final lens was then composed of two colors (first and second preference). Steps: Order of examination.

Fig. 3b (right): The lenses used for testing and customized patient fitting.

After optimal correction of both eyes, both color tests were repeated. On average and across all participants, with the color vision aid, the Ishihara test now showed an improvement from originally 22.1% correctly recognized tasks to 62.1% (two-sided t-test for dependent samples p<0.00, i.e. highly significant); and in the Farnsworth test a change in the correct arrangement of the color plates from originally 55.0% to 70.8% (t-test: p=0.004; highly significant). This corresponds to a 40% improvement in color discernment for the Ishihara and over 15% for the

Current

determine whether standardized lens colors can be offered for specific disorders.

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Fig. 4: Comparison of the color selection of the lenses. The current study showed a preference for colors No. 4 and 15. Blue always indicates the color of the first choice of lens, orange always identifies the lens that was chosen second.

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Farnsworth test. Participants reported better color discernment with the Farnsworth test, based on the difference in brightness of the colored dots, apparently making it easier for the participants to do better in the test. The evaluation of the lens tints with which the participants were better able to identify colors showed a clear trend: Tint No. 4 was chosen most frequently (14x for the right eye and 21x for the left eye), with tint No. 15 the second most frequently chosen (16x for the right eye and 15x for the left eye). The follow-up examination also concurred with this result. Thus, a clear preference could be established in the area of color vision correction!

The question that was posed at the beginning of the study was whether individually manufactured tinted lenses can improve vision. It turned out that the majority of the participants favored certain colors. This led to the question: Can a standardized pair of glasses be obtained from the two primary colors, and what benefit would these glasses provide compared to customized glasses?

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The trial with a standardized version was now included in the study based on this data collected, and then compared with the customized version at the end of the study.

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However, this does not hold true for corrections relating to migraine or dyslexia (see Fig. 5). In such cases, there is a need for further research to

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Fig. 5: By contrast, in the study on migraines (top row) and on dyslexia (bottom row), the choice of optimal lenses was distributed in a much more colorful way (blue = first choice, orange = second choice of tinted lens).

The placebo control study with 24 study participants with poor color recognition After the initial examination was performed, the spectacle lenses were produced. Spectacle frames specially designed for the study were fitted. Participants who were already spectacle wearers were fitted with an attachment system (clip-ons). All participants received glasses, but only 50% received the actual prescription. The remaining 50% received placebo glasses or clip-ons with a standard tint of 30% gray or brown. Treatment of the experimental and control groups in parallel was carried out according to age and color perception in line with Ishihara, i.e. always two subjects of roughly the same age and color perception ability were compared. Of these, one was randomly assigned to the experimental group and the other to the control group. The glasses (experimental or placebo) were then given to the patients for daily use. Prerequisite was that the glasses had to be worn for at least three hours a day. This was recorded by the participants. An intermediate examination then was performed after six weeks (see Table 1). Using the true correction, the Ishihara test showed a highly significant difference in the condition without corrective device between the first and second examination (p<0.00 in the two-sided t-test for dependent samples), whereas the slight difference for the Farnsworth test was relatively insignificant (p=0.82). The mean difference of improvement between the first and second measurement in the Ishihara test without corrective lenses was 12.5 for the experimental group and 9.17 for the control group; the difference between the two groups was insignificant (two-sided

Preliminary examination without lenses

Intermediate examination without lenses

Intermediate examination with lenses or placebo

Ishihara experimental group 22.1% 34.6% (+12.5%) 58.3% (+36.2%)

Ishihara control group 22.1% 31.3% (+9.2%) 35.8% (+13.7%)

Farnsworth experimental group 65.0% 66.9% (+1.9%) 66.9% (+1.9%)

Farnsworth control group 45.4% 49.6% (+4.2%) 42.4% (-3.0%)

Intermediate examination with 2 lenses or with placebo

Intermediate examination with o ptimized lens (no placebo lenses)

Ishihara experimental group 58.3% 70.8% (+12.5%)

Ishihara control group 35.8% 63.3% (+27.5%)

Farnsworth experimental group 66.9% 78.9% (+12.0%)

Farnsworth control group 49.1% 61.4% (+12.3%)

pared to initial examination). Tab.

examination

patients with color vision deficiency with the original lenses (2-fold glazing or gray/brown placebo lens)

which all patients were to perform the tests with an optimized lens (i.e., only colored and no gray/brown placebo lens). (Values in parentheses = change compared to the initial examination).

t-test for independent samples p=0.27). There was also no significant change in the scores between the experimental and control groups for the Farnsworth test (p=0.27).

Subsequently, both groups were examined again thoroughly by the Ishihara and Farnsworth tests using colored corrective lenses. Here again, the control group showed a significant improvement in performance (see Table 2). A further correction optimization was then carried out in the experimental group, with this group receiving lenses consisting of up to three different colors. This allowed even better fitting, because now 16x16x16 colors could be combined, i.e. theoretically over 4,000 tints were now available for the customized fitting. Participants from the control group

also received new placebo lenses – for this, the gray lenses were swapped for brown ones and vice versa.

A final examination was performed after eight months. Unfortunately, at this time four participants were no longer available, had moved away or had not worn the corrective lenses often enough. Thus the number of participants was reduced to 20. Overall, both groups, i.e. also the control group, showed an improvement in color perception according to the examinations carried out. However, whereas the experimental group had improved significantly by the time of the last examination, the control group remained approximately the same, especially in the Farnsworth test (see Table 3). We can only hazard a guess as to why the control group also experienced an improvement based on their statements. Some placebo recipients reported "better detail vision" or "one is clearly more aware of the colors". A strong focus on colors could also have led to a slight improvement in color perception.

The difference between the initial and final examinations is highly significant for the Ishihara test without corrective lenses (p=0.0007 for the t-test for dependent samples); however, no significant difference was found for the Farnsworth test (p=0m20).

The statistical comparison of the difference between the initial and final examinations showed a significant difference in the Ishihara test without corrective lenses between the experimental and the control group (p=0.03 in the two-sided t-test for independent groups). However, this difference was not significant for the Farnsworth test (p=0.29).

One participant saw a colorful rainbow for the first time In addition to the test data, however, many subjective statements by the participants at the end of the study also supported the fact that there had indeed been an improvement in the perception of colors: One participant in the control group reported being suddenly able to see a colorful rainbow for the first time while still in the first few months of use, even without

Intermediate examination with optimized lens (no placebo lenses)

Final examination with optimized lens (no placebo lenses)

Ishihara experimental group 71.0% (+12%) 77% (+18%)

Ishihara control group 61.5% (-1.5%) 70.5% (+7.3%)

Farnsworth experimental group 80.4% (+7.2%) 90.4% (+17.2%)

Farnsworth control group 61.1% (-3.6%) 59.8% (-4.9%)

Final examination with optimized lenses (no placebo lenses)

Final examination with standardized lenses (no placebo lenses)

Ishihara experimental group 77.0% (+31.5%) 61.0% (+15.5%)

Ishihara control group 70.5% (+36.5%) 64.5% (+30.5%)

Farnsworth experimental group 90.4% (+11.0%) 87.0% (+7.7%)

Farnsworth control group 59.8% (+10.1%) 61.8% (+12.1%)

(i.e., only colored and no gray/brown placebo glass). (Values in parentheses = change compared to color vision without correction).

the filter lenses. The colors were more intense and included more colors of the spectrum than he had previously seen. Another control group participant reported that he was more confident in his assessment of colors when playing with the children. One participant felt that he could see the color green better and that it was more saturated; also the colors of LEDs were easier to distinguish. The specifications of the study stipulated that the glasses must be worn at least three hours a day, but no exact upper limit had been specified. One participant stated that he wore his glasses for about six hours a day; this participant also exhibited the highest rate of improvement in the test procedures, thus suggesting that longer wearing periods may lead to faster improvement. What remains now is the suitability of the standardized design as a possible correction solution. For this purpose, the data collected in the initial examination was used to produce spectacles with a combined

tint of colors 4+15, and compare these with the customized correction solution in the final examination.

As a result, it can be stated that even standardized spectacles already offer a possibility of better color perception to those affected by red-green vision deficiencies, even though the customized version offers better options.

Conclusion: Impairments in color perception can be improved!

In the light of this study, impairments in color perception can now be classed as ‘improvable’. Even though none of the participants succeeded in achieving 100% correction (which anyway had not been expected, given the shortness of the study of about eight months), the

Fig. 6a (left): Selection and adaptation of the colored lenses to the individual optimum of the patients. Fig. 6b (right): Example of better recognition of a task from the Ishihara test with the aid of colored lenses. The letter "H", which is otherwise almost invisible to patients with color vision deficiency, shows clearly improved contrast, and can thus be recognized better with the colored lens.

▶ Medical examinations in certain professions – where accurate color recognition is indispensable – should be modified in such a way as to recognize that, for those affected, the color recognition rates can be considerably improved with the aid of specifically customized glasses!

▶ Once classified as having a color-recognition impairment, this should no longer mean that this will remain so forever!

▶ Irrespective of the superiority of colored lenses over the light ‘sunglasses’ lenses of the control group, the results of this study prove that deficiencies in color perception should be classified as treatable!

A placebo effect can be largely excluded as the improvement in color recognition using the true correction was visibly higher than the data of the control group. However, the latter group also showed improvements, which may be due to the fact that brown/gray lenses also increase contrast and thus make color differences easier to see. Thus, for further studies, tinted lenses should largely be avoided for the placebo condition, and clear lenses preferred. However, the main difference between the experimental and control group shows that colored glasses are very useful for the purpose of improving color perception. This is particularly important for children. It would be interesting to know what happens when children suffering from deficiencies in color perception are fitted with such spectacles at an early age. This is illustrated by the following anecdote reported by Ruschenburg: Back in 2012, Ruschenburg treated a young man who came to him because of a weakness in distinguishing red and green. He wanted to become a sea captain. However, this required a certain ability to distinguish color, which he did not have at the time. Over the years, the young man’s prescription was repeatedly adjusted and optimized. In the spring of 2019, Ruschenburg received the news that color proficiency had been sufficiently established that he could now begin his training to become a sea captain. He set out on his first great voyage that same year. As already stated at the beginning, it is demanding on the brain to have to process a visual impression without or with only weak colors, where especially ‘red’ and ‘green’ are difficult to distinguish. As also mentioned at the beginning, this frequently leads to headaches and stress. Such negative effects can be reduced by early treatment, especially in children. Apparently the

brain ‘learns’ to process the colors better at this stage, even without corrective aids. This was also shown in the study by Renjie Li et al in 2009, which demonstrated that contrast vision can be learned and improved through the use of action video games. Which mechanisms are neuro-anatomically and physiologically responsible in this can only be speculated on. Since the number of color-sensitive sensory cells in the retina cannot increase, it is presumably plastic adaptation processes in V4 area of the visual system that now better compensate for the lack of input. The assumption of a brain-related learning process is supported by the fact that the improvement of color perception was achieved over a period of several months. Finally, for ethical reasons, it should be noted that all participants in the control group were of course given the true correction after completion of the study, and were also offered a follow-up with subsequent optimization, where appropriate! The experimental group was also provided with a new correction, if required, at the end of the study. ◆

Sascha Ruschenburg

Sascha Ruschenburg is a master optometrist; self-employed in Braunfels-Philippstein and Marburg, Germany. The first pilot study on color perception associated with disease patterns was carried out in 2002-2006. A further study on color perception in connection with migraines was carried out in 2016.

Heike Steinmüller has been a master optometrist since 2017 and is employed at Ruschenburg Optik.

Prof. Dr. Erich Kasten is a psychologist and neuroscientist. He has worked at the universities of Lübeck, Göttingen and Magdeburg, Germany, among others. Since 2013, he has been an appointed W3 professor of neuroscience at the Medical School in Hamburg, Germany

Prof. Dr. Erich Kasten

Heike Steinmüller

On the cusp of maturity –

Advancement of flat lens technology

Research publications on flat lenses have increased in recent years. For instance, in August 2022, a research team at Columbia Engineering, USA, led by Nanfang Yu, associate professor of applied physics and applied mathematics, published a paper in Light: Science & Applications on a flat optical device that focuses only a few selected narrowband colors of light while remaining transparent to nonselected light over the vast majority of the spectrum1

By Rebekka Nurkanovic

The Columbia researchers think that this device will enable optimal visual quality for augmented reality goggles because it appears entirely transparent until they shine a beam of light with the correct wavelength onto it, when the glass turns into a lens. According to the developers, the lens could reflect contextual information to the viewer’s eye at selected narrowband wavelengths while also allowing an unobstructed, undimmed, broadband view of the real world (Fig. 1).

In September 2022, researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China, described a new lens, called Alvarez lens, in the Optica Publishing Group journal Optics Express 2. Their device has a continuously tunable focal length and the developers hope that it could one day prevent visual fatigue from augmented and virtual reality devices.

These are just two examples of the vast array of publications on flat lens technology. To further the maturation process in the field, Professor Uriel Levy, Director of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU)'s Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and Co-Founder/CTO of HU’s portfolio company TriEye, together with postdoc student Dr. Jacob Engelberg, has established a standard method to compare flat-lens technologies and designs. The Israeli researchers published their findings in Nature Photonics3. Levy took the time to explain features of flat lenses and his standardization method in a conversation with MAFO.

His interest in flat lenses started already around the turn of the century, while he was working on his PhD in the field of diffractive optics. “The idea of diffractive optics was to engineer, to design, to manufacture, and to characterize optical elements that are operating based on

Fig. 1: Illustration showing the operation of an augmented reality headset with multifunctional nonlocal metasurfaces as optical see-through lenses.

Picture:

diffraction rather than refraction. Typically, in order to change the path of a light beam or ray of light in a material, a curvature is needed. To receive the wished for path, the difference between the refractive index of the material and the surrounding has to be taken into account, based on the laws of reflection or Snell’s law”, Levy explains. “The larger the curvature, the stronger the lens, meaning that high diopter lenses are thicker than low diopter lenses.”

What are flat lenses?

Flat lenses have no curvature. Features like tiny holes, lines or circles break the beams of light, which is called diffraction. The earliest version of that technology can be found in the Fresnel lens, developed in the 19 th century for lighthouses. These early flat lenses were not nearly as perfectly flat as today, but they were very thin compared to classical lenses and while the manufacturing was primitive, some of the physical concepts still used today were already in place.

In the 1980’s, the development of modern diffractive lenses took up steam. Typically, the flat lenses of that era were wavelength scale features with a height of maybe one two microns, which were able to focus a relatively large beam of light into a spot. Since then, the field has evolved considerably. Over the last few years, a new type of flat lens, the metalens, has emerged, alongside diffractive lenses. The two types of flat lenses are very similar but differ in their specific phase profiles. The metalens has nano-features with features like posts that can be 100 or 200 nanometers in diameter. “These nano-features spread all over the aperture of the lens and based on the specific design, can acquire the phase that is needed to focus. It is an efficient binary structure, either existing or non-existing”, says Levy. “A diffractive lens is typically not binary and its features are microscale. It is a little bit more difficult to make than a metalens, because you need several fabrication steps and have to align between each step. From a manufacturing point of view, the binary structure of the metalens is an advantage compared to the diffractive lens.”

Challenges and advantages of flat lenses

A main issue with flat lenses that still needs solving is chromatic abberation, where the designed wavelength is focused exactly as desired but other wavelengths are focused at a different focal plane, causing a blurred vision, which can pose a severe problem, depending on the illumination source. With the sun or a broadband light source in a room, it would be highly problematic, whereas with a laser light for illumination, the wavelengths and the color are predefined and the chromatic abberation is less of an issue. For some applications, like contact lenses or spectacle lenses, this is very important, which is why a lot of the effort in academia and industry is focused towards developing lenses with reduced chromatic abberation. And there are additional challenging aberrations like spherical abberation and coma. Levy points out that a typical refractive lens of good quality requires several surfaces or interfaces and that it would be naive to believe that one surface could replace all. “There is always some penalty to pay. One path that is being tried to achieve similar results is making flat lenses with several layers, which are almost touching each other.”

The researchers are trying to reduce the chromatic abberations using several methods. One method is based on a multilayer structure that can be constructed in two different ways. One way makes each layer correspond to a specific color. This is called multiplexing, where features are mixed in each layer that perform lensing for the three main colors red, green, and blue. Levy explains that with multiplexing, the resolution might be a little degraded but still on a tolerable scale and the wavelengths for the three colors would be focused at the same plane. “We are working on that now with some initial results but it's still an ongoing problem.” His team is also working on reducing other abberations like spherical and coma by using a design taken from the world of refractive lenses. Yet another challenge is to produce flat lenses in high quality at low cost and in a repeatable way. “Flat lens production has to be controlled very precisely”, says Levy. “Even a little change, e.g. changing the size of the pillar from 50 to 52 nanometer would be an issue.”

Professor Uriel Levy. Director of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU)'s Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

Nanfang Yu, Stephanie Malek, Adam Overvig/Columbia Engineering

Levy and his team are also trying to provide a holistic approach for the manufacturing of flat lenses. Holistic approach means that the researchers are trying to provide a solution, which takes aspects of design and manufacturing into account as well as aspects of characterization.

Flat lenses and ophthalmic optics

There are no flat spectacle lenses on the market yet with the biggest obstacle being the unresolved issue of chromatic abberation. Levy says that one way to use flat lenses in spectacles in the near future could be creating a hybrid, combining a basic standard refractive lens with a flat lens to create something superior to each of the respective lenses on their own. For a fully flat refractive lens, not only the problems of aberration but also of cheap mass manufacturing would have to be solved. R&D activities regarding ophthalmic flat lenses are especially aimed at providing glasses to people with high diopters, for whom even semi flat lenses would be a great improvement. Levy thinks that flat prescription lenses are very likely to enter the market further down the line, when the problem of chromatic abberation has been solved and manufacturing costs are lower.

Anders Kristensen, professor of DTU Health Tech at the Technical University of Denmark, has already made great strides in this direction. His EU-H2020 project Odyssey aims to change the optical design and manufacturing process for spectacle lenses completely. Kristensen and his team are developing lenses that are as thin and light as non-prescription sunglass lenses, even at high diopter levels, using a manufacturing process that involves producing a thin layer of nanostructures with a laser printer. The long-term vision is that the lenses can be laserprinted onto special nanostructured templates in 15 minutes at the optical store while the customer waits. Initially, the manufacturing of these flat prescription lenses will likely be integrated into conventional production, but as soon as the laser printing process is mature, it should take place in the optical store to reduce transportation costs and material consumption. So far, flat lenses at the corner optician are still a vision

of the future, but Kristensen is confident that this future is not too far away. The EU's H2020 project ended at the turn of the year, and a company has been set up to continue the work. The R&D team is still working on the chromatic aberration problem, but Kristensen reveals that a first prototype is ready and expects the first product to enter the market in about two years.

Beyond ophthalmic optics

For Uriel Levy, the ophthalmic field is only one area of interest. He and his team are aiming for a more general use of metalenses, e.g. in virtual reality, augmented reality, or cell phones: “We have developed metalens also to measure depths and achieve a 3D image. The idea is that you will have one or two special lenses in your eyeglasses, on which you add features. With those, you will be able to project images in virtual reality or augment reality in a 3D fashion. With flat lenses, you can make the surfaces aspheric and you can add some tunability and project images into that. I think that this could be a revolution for the field.”

Flat lenses are also very interesting for the cell phone arena, because of the possible reduction of size, weight, and manufacturing costs. The weight reducing aspect might make them attractive for imaging systems in aerospace and drones as well. Levy’s current research in the area of metalenses is focused on improving them, adding more features and trying to understand how different design methods would affect the performance. ◆

1 Malek, S.C., Overvig, A.C., Alù, A. et al. Multifunctional resonant wavefront-shaping meta-optics based on multilayer and multi-perturbation nonlocal metasurfaces. Light Sci Appl 11, 246 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-022-00905-6.

2 Shuyi Chen, Junhao Lin, Ziqian He, Yan Li, Yikai Su, and Shin-Tson Wu, "Planar Alvarez tunable lens based on polymetric liquid crystal Pancharatnam-Berry optical elements," Opt. Express 30, 34655-34664 (2022).

3 E ngelberg, J., Levy, U. Standardizing flat lens characterization. Nat. Photon. 16, 171–173 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-022-00963-7.

3D Rendering of a metalens. Closeup of Fresnel Lens that concentrates light into a relatively narrow beam.

Escaping the niche

Smart glasses between medical applications and a brave new AR world

The future of so-called smart glasses seemed to be over back in 2014. Google’s innovative smart glasses had failed to capture the market for the time being, despite having undeniably attracted the interest of consumers. Eight years later, a small specialist exhibition at the Silmo international ophthalmic optics trade fair convincingly showed that through new manufacturing techniques and software developments, combined with connection to smartphones via apps, new product worlds are currently being created around this type of spectacles, for the industrial, lifestyle and medical sectors. Will 2023 be the year in which smart glasses finally make the breakthrough to long-term market success?

By Frank Sonnenberg

The market for smart glasses is gaining momentum. This is understandable in the light of the rapid progress in digital transformation that is currently gripping our society and industry. In particular, the opportunities offered by virtual and augmented reality are increasingly being made feasible by new technological developments.

Consumer applications are becoming increasingly interesting

Over the past year, various prototypes and smart glasses nearly ready for market have been presented. More such glasses than ever before. There is no question that something is afoot in this market segment. As elsewhere, this was also evident at Silmo 2022, where a portfolio of

new products and their possibilities were presented to the ophthalmic experts, thus sending a clear signal for the future.

Just how important the topic is for the industry is shown, for example, by the investment being made by Fielmann Ventures, the venture and investment arm of the Fielmann Group, in the Israeli deep-tech company Deep Optics, the inventor and pioneer of spectacles with a dynamic optical focus.

Based in Petah Tikva, Israel, the deep-tech company is developing what can be called a disruptive spectacle lens technology in the field of electro-optics: liquid crystal lenses which can adjust the optical focus of the lens to any required distance. The advantage of this patented technology is said to be that, compared to normal progressive lenses, the spectacle wearer benefits from a significantly larger field of view. According to Fielmann, the technology could not only fundamentally change the market for spectacle lenses, it also opens up exciting applications in the field of smart glasses.

AR is helping in the medical field

One area of application for smart glasses with future potential is in the field of ophthalmology with the target group those suffering from age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

According to the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS), the proportion of people with late-stage AMD in Germany compared to the overall population is 0.59% (i.e. about 488,000 people), and the proportion of people with early-stage, age-related macular degeneration is 8.43% (i.e. about 6,981,000 people).[1]

In view of the European and global multi-million patient market, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the USA recently awarded a 2023 Innovation Prize in the category ‘Wearable Technologies’ to a pair of smart glasses.

The award went to Cellico's Arges Smart AR glasses for the visually impaired. The glasses were developed for people suffering from age-related macular degeneration. This eye condition affects the central area of vision, making it difficult for sufferers to recognize faces, read, drive or even perform basic tasks like cooking.

The smart glasses are equipped with a small 4k camera and a mobile app to capture and process images in real time. The images are then transmitted back to the wearer of the glasses via an augmented reality

The future of smart glasses will be multi-faceted

Skugga: If Skugga has its way, there will be no more clunky data glasses. The company unveiled an electronic module in Paris that can be built into design-oriented eyewear. It is designed for mass production and is said to be suitable for a variety of frames made of different materials such as acetate, 3D-printed polymer and injection-molded plastic frames. With Skugga technology, eyeglass wearers have Bluetooth access to motion and environmental sensor data, notifications, navigation or other app functions.

Obe: More concealed is the innovation from Obe. At Silmo, the German company presented a universal hinge solution for secure data connections. The specially designed bracket hinge is said to put less strain on the wiring harness required for smart glasses, to be easy to install and remove again, and to open smoothly.

display. According to the company, this process redirects the central vision to the peripheral field of view, allowing AMD sufferers to recover their lost sight.

The low vision glasses exhibited at Silmo by the French supplier Light Vision are aimed at the same target group.

Revival of smart glasses for consumers –but this time more attractive

Examples of other consumer applications are smart glasses with a connection to a cell phone and data projection into the wearer's field of view.

While the Google glasses of the time were still very technical and polarized,

Tooz: The innovation here lies in the combination of frame and lens. Information is made accessible to the eye of the wearer via a prism and total reflection on transparent conductive paths in the lens.

the latest models are more camouflaged and marketed by their producers as a fashion article with additional technical attributes.

The aim of these products is to interact with the surroundings via augmented reality (AR), but without having to wear a special headset.

Smart glasses looking more like normal spectacles are most likely what we will come to expect in future. Their aim is to access specific information quickly and easily, to be able to understand another language or to be guided from A to B by a virtual navigation system.

The French manufacturer Cosmo Connected showed what this nottoo-distant future might already look like with Cosmo Vision: a pair of biker glasses connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth. The Cosmo

New frames of beauty.

Vision app transfers data from a smartphone to the right eye of the glasses, where speed, travelling times and navigation information can be displayed. A practical head-up display that is already familiar from smart helmets. But now it is also available to scooter riders and jet helmet wearers. What is displayed in the glasses is controlled by swiping the sensor of the left lens.

The smart glasses Tooz Essnz Berlin take a different approach. A normal form factor is also in the foreground here, while the technology is somewhat hidden. You might also say: less of a nerdy design, more of a mainstream approach. Here, too, information from the cell phone is projected onto the inside of the lenses mounted in the frame. However, the lenses form an integral part of the smart technology concept. In

Light Vision: The field of application is ophthalmology with the target group of AMD sufferers. Thanks to eye tracking technology, the glasses recognize the still healthy areas of the retina of the most powerful eye and project the image that the owner wants to see onto these areas.

short, a concrete structure is incorporated into the lens with individual vision correction, via which the information is then projected in front of the eye.

Smart glasses for industrial applications

Different working environments, different demands. Industrial and medical applications call for customized smart glasses with specially adapted monitors, loudspeakers, lighting, etc.

A large number of smart-glass solutions are concerned here, depending on the specific requirements. Including conventional VR headsets. Innovation is also in evidence here. Also recognized by CES with the 2023 Innovation Award was the VR/MR (Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality)

Ellcie Healthy: Smart glasses, which focus on safety for the wearer. Thanks to intelligently networked glasses, drivers are to be notified in real time, for example, if a lack of vigilance is detected. In addition, the data glasses will be able to automatically detect falls and alert help in case of danger. It is also to be positioned on the market in the field of health and activity tracking. The glasses will allow people to monitor their physical activity, such as the number of steps taken per day, which will provide a valuable indication of the energy consumed.

Cosmo: Smart glasses for cyclists and motorcyclists with head-up display. Cell phone data is transferred to the glasses via cell phone Bluetooth.

headset insert from Voy Glasses. Reason: The VR or MR lens insert to the system is the world's first tunable lens for VR or MR devices. This insert allows people with myopia to see VR or MR headset images clearly without the need for prescription glasses. The tunable range is from 0 to -6.0 dpt.

Smart glasses are becoming a reality

The future of smart glasses is already here. There can be no talk of a niche product any more. In addition to the lifestyle target group with its natural affinity for smart glasses, the medical applications in particular promise to become another driving force in the market. This also has important implications for ophthalmic optics. Is another industry transformation on the horizon? Who will be responsible for sales and marketing of smart glasses? Can specialist opticians or ophthalmologists do this? Who will be responsible for customer service? Even if smart glasses have a close connection with ophthalmic optics, might other distribution channels soon emerge as additional market players, and thus competitors? And what about the product

lifecycle from manufacturing to recycling? Are the frames based on a sustainable design and recycling concept that clearly separates materials and technical components in a circular value chain? Is this as smart as the spectacles themselves? Collecting used smart glasses and later shipping them in bulk to developing countries probably won’t work.

Some smart-glass products have already been scheduled to be launched in 2023. More will follow in the years to come. Large tech companies like Apple and Google are also likely to enter the market with their own products. What the market will actually look like in the coming years remains to be seen. But whatever happens, it’s sure to be exciting. ◆

[1] https://www.woche-des-sehens.de/infothek/zahlen-und-fakten augenkrankheiten-zahlen-fuer-deutschland

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Subtitles for AR glasses

Interview with Dan Scarfe

Smart glasses are on the rise and new applications for them are being developed all the time. Many of them are just gimmicks for technology-lovers, but some can also make everyday life easier for users in a meaningful way. One example of the latter is XRAI Glass, a captioning software for Nreal augmented reality (AR) glasses, which converts spoken language into subtitles. Dan Scarfe, founder & CEO of XRAI Glass, talked about his invention in an interview with MAFO. By Rebekka Nurkanovic

How did the idea for XRAI Glass come about?

I had a previous business, which collaborated with Microsoft and was concerned with moving the technology of large organizations to the cloud. This was very interesting but not particularly noble. I had worked in IT for 20 years when we sold the company to Cognizant in 2020, and I knew that I wanted to do something next that had some good associated with it. So, I started to think about what that could be.

On Christmas 2021, I saw my granddad, surrounded by his family, but he was completely vacant, because he could not hear anything that anybody was saying – it was terrible to watch. He is 97 years old, has still full cognitive capacity, but virtually zero hearing left. I am not quite sure when epiphany struck me but I suddenly thought, well, he watches subtitles on the TV all of the time. Why can't we create subtitles in real life?

To me, this seemed to be the most obvious use case for AR and I fully expected that somebody had already created a product for it. I soon discovered that while a few people had tried to develop a concept, no one had succeeded, probably because the hardware was not there yet. Until recently, AR glasses were large contraptions that looked almost like helmets. They were also expensive, had short battery life, and rather poor processing. What I found interesting about Nreal glasses, was that they are connected to a phone with a wire and make use of the phone’s battery and processing power and its microphones. This way, the glasses do not weigh much more than normal spectacles do. The only difference to normal eyewear is that they have tiny screens built into the top of the glasses and optical elements – called birdbath, which combine two main optical components, a spherical part-mirror and a beam splitter.

Basically, this is a piece of glass at 45 degrees, which bounces the light from the projectors into the eyes – thereby creating the experience of augmented reality. These glasses can also accept small prescription inserts, which are clipped in and sit on top of the birdbath, meaning that they can be used by everybody. I realized that this was an AR glasses concept that would provide the perfect platform for my vision and started on the project. I had the idea at the end of 2021 and following a successful pilot program, we launched the software in November 2022.

How does the software work?

First, let me say that I think augmented reality is going to win versus virtual reality – there are far more use cases for enriching the real world with additional information than creating virtual worlds. For me, the important additional information or metadata is captions of course. We use a technology called GPT 3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3), which uses deep learning to produce human-like text and is so powerful that it may make a person believe that they are talking to a human being. You may have heard about a software engineer at Google who was fired for believing the computer he was talking to was sentient. He was talking to a similar large language model. Our software uses either the microphone on the glasses or on the connected phone to record speech and translate it into subtitles. The subtitles identify the speakers and show what each of them says. We are relying on the noise cancellation of the microphones but it can be a challenge when multiple people are talking at the same time.

In the future we'll be able to use multiple mics simultaneously, so that there are multiple audio streams and the software can easily identify who is talking.

S carfe

XRAI Glass has three features: subtitles, translation and an assistant. The assistant can do several things. For summarization, you just say, “Hey, XRAI, can you summarize the conversation that we just had?” and the assistant will summarize a conversation of an hour or more in a few sentences. This feature opens possibilities not just for the deaf, but also for a range of cognitive capabilities. For instance, people who cannot understand what

XRAI Glass can help you transcribe and subtitle conversations in nine of the world’s most spoken languages, like Mandarin, French, and Italian.

Dan

is being said properly could ask, “Hey XRAI, can you summarize this in language that a 10 year old would understand?” In the future, the assistant will also be able to deliver specific information from a conversation that you previously had. You could say, “Hey, XRAI, how often did the doctor tell me I was supposed to take my medicine?”

The assistant would then search for the answer in the saved conversations. It can also retrieve other information, for instance the weather forecast and show it on your AR glasses.

Translation is available in multiple languages. XRAI Glass can help you transcribe and subtitle conversations in nine of the world’s most spoken languages, like Mandarin, French, and Italian. I would also like to mention that everything is stored on the device and we have no access to it because many people are concerned about privacy when they hear about speech recording. We are a web-3 company, meaning that we prefer decentralization, and take care that users own their data, not us.

Where can one get XRAI Glass?

You can download our app in the Google Play Store. The AR glasses are available in four countries, in Japan, China, UK and US. They are sold via telephone companies or online retailers. On a side note, I believe that opticians should start to think about selling AR glasses even without prescriptions in them. If they were available in optician stores, it would be a great opportunity for potential customers to experience AR in a setting that they are familiar and comfortable with. It is difficult to explain a technology, which is not like anything you have ever experienced before. The best you can do is to compare AR glasses to driving a car with a heads up display where the speed appears in front of you, apparently above the trunk of the car. If you could go to your local optician store and try them on, it would be much easier.

How did your grandfather react to XRAI Glass?

Honestly, I think he was a bit blown away by it. We are now trying slowly to get granddad used to wearing the AR glasses and using the software. I am not sure, whether the older population will be our target market. We try to make the use of XRAI Glass as simple as possible, but it is still a new technology and I believe older people will always be reticent. It was interesting that we have had more interest from the younger demographic, which makes perfect sense when you think about it. We assume that most deaf people are old but that is not true – one sixth of the world's population lives with some kind of hearing impairment. It is a massive problem and many people would benefit from this technology even if they do not wear hearing aids today or even if they do not identify as being deaf. I might use them myself at a networking event, when it is noisy and I do not want to miss half of the conversation.

you for the interview. ◆

Thank

Myopia Management with spectacle lenses

The 6-year follow-up clinical study of Miyosmart spectacle lenses

Last year, the results of the 6-year follow-up clinical study of Miyosmart spectacle lenses (manufactured by Hoya) for myopia control were presented at the Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting in Denver in May 2022. Clinical data on myopia control are also available now for spectacle lenses as an alternative to previous myopia management options such as soft contact lenses, OrthoK, or atropine. The significance of using myopia control spectacle lenses and the key findings from the clinical study were explained to us by Pascal Blaser, Global Medical Affairs Manager of Hoya Vision Care, in an interview. By

Daniel Groß and Silke Sage

Why is myopia management becoming increasingly important in the daily routine of optometrists?

Since the World Health Organisation (WHO) published its first report on myopia and high myopia in 20151, more and more attention from eye care professionals has been drawn to myopia in children. Through reports in the press and on television, parents, too, have become more aware. Particularly in the past few years, the visual habits of children have changed a lot due to COVID-19. With the increasing interest in myopia management, there is a need for more advice concerning children's vision, and eye care professionals can now offer new expertise. Of course, the success of myopia management in children could also increase patient loyalty and open the opportunity to provide eye care service to the whole family. Up to now, most children with myopia were simply fitted with

conventional single-vision spectacle lenses. This has changed over the last few years, and we are now able to offer more evidence and clinically proven products to the children concerned.

What does promising myopia management look like to you?

Myopia management only works in the long run if we all work together in a serious and evidence-based way. This is how we gain the trust of parents and ophthalmologists, who usually issue prescriptions for children. Myopia management must also be supported by the whole team in a clinic or shop. It is also helpful to introduce a myopia consultation concept in addition to continuing education for the team. The whole team should speak the same language and offer the child a smooth experience.

How has myopia management as a service evolved since you first started to acquaint optometrists with the topic?

From my experience with contact lenses, in the future, the service on myopia management, too, should be charged separately from the cost of the spectacle lens. The myopia management service includes, in addition to refraction, binocular vision, axial length, risk analysis, and regular eye health monitoring. As many professional organizations recommend regular refraction with cycloplegia for children, cooperation with the ophthalmologist can be strengthened by separating the product cost from the service.

What has the feedback been so far about the practical experience (with Miyosmart) from opticians, optometrists, orthoptists – as well as from ophthalmologists?

Personally, I was inquisitive to see how children would respond to the Miyosmart in practice. I had been trying it out for several years among my acquaintances, and there had never been any problems. However, things are often different on a larger scale – the recommended frame and centering parameters need to be considered. However, from our regular Miyosmart expert meetings and discussions, the feedbacks clearly exceed my expectations. Initial input from all professional groups is also very positive across the board. The first follow-up checks after six months show that the expected effect is comparable to or even better than in the 2-year Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) from Hong Kong.

Hoya was the first introducing the myopia control spectacle lens with defocus lenslets, and other manufacturers are now following suit. Does the saying “competition stimulates the market” ring true for you?

Untreated myopia can increase the risk of eye disease later on, especially in the case of high myopia and increased eye length. Is this argument even more important to parents than correcting myopia at a young age?

This certainly depends very much on parents’ understanding of myopia. If parents are shortsighted, especially highly, they know myopia’s drawbacks and how it can impinge on the quality of life. Not only has the axial length measurement been accepted by parents, but the growth curves available today can also be understood by parents, they are already familiar with similar curves for height and weight of child explained by the pediatricians personal child health record. If you look at the growth curves of body weight, you can easily make comparisons. The more the excess weight – or in this case, the axial length corresponding to age – the higher the possibility of consequential damage may be in the future.

How well has the spectacle lens become established as a recognized treatment for children with progressive myopia?

For years, my colleagues and I have tried to establish the contact lens as an option in myopia management, but we often have safety complaints from ophthalmologists. Now, for the first time with the Miyosmart spectacle lens, we have a safe, non-invasive, and effective option for myopia management. As we had already predicted, a spectacle lens, commonly used with young children, will become the standard treatment for progressive myopia. However, the great interest from optometrists, orthoptists, and ophthalmologists from the very start when this product was introduced to the market really came as a surprise.

Of course, such a success story motivates competitors to jump on the bandwagon, and we see more and more ideas and concepts coming into the market. That's fine as long as we talk about genuine, evidence-based products. Some manufacturers promote a myopia management product without clinical evidence and market the product simply by advertising many hypes. Therefore, a serious and sustainable approach and appropriate communication are essential to avoid pushback from ophthalmologists – similar to what happened to blue light at some point. I believe we have demonstrated professionalism from the start and that has been recognized and accepted by ophthalmologists and orthoptists. Of course, Hoya wants to sell the Miyosmart, but myopia management is a marathon, so we must drive it in a sustainable way. After all, there are massive amounts of myopic children to take care of.

How does Hoya support eye care professionals who are offering myopia management in their shops for the first time?

To this end, through in-depth discussions with our experts, we have implemented several ideas, and many more have been planned for the future. We offer opticians the opportunity to grow their children's eyewear business through myopia management. With this in mind, in Germany we have established contacts with frame suppliers and can now offer complete optical eyewear solutions, including frames and Miyosmart spectacle lenses as a package – for example, the Milo&Me. We launched this new partnership, and the first collection was at the Opti in Munich 2022. This idea was very well received. Our collaboration with Haag-Streit and Lenstar biometer has been known for some time. The axial length measurement instrument and the software provide better visualization and significantly simplify the consultation process. We are expanding our professional affairs team to improve the collaboration between opticians and ophthalmologists further. My new colleagues and I aim to strengthen the understanding and adoption of our product among ophthalmologists.

Sometimes we find that the topic of myopia tends to be dismissed by competitors without equivalent products simply as hype.

Recently, doubts have increasingly been expressed about the reliability of the available data for European children's eyes. What is your response to this? Yes, true, I have increasingly become aware of this request too. Why should we worry that the defocus effect in Caucasians will differ from that in Asians? Of course, we know that in Asian eyes, the excessive axial length growth in myopic children is more pronounced; therefore, the axial length among Asian children is more significant than that in Caucasians. However, the effect of slowing down myopia progression and bringing the eye growth to normal physiological emmetropic growth will probably be similar: not in absolute values of axial length, but in terms of achieving the treatment goal. In the same way, as the father of a myopic daughter, I don't understand the criticism that in Germany, we don't have a high prevalence of myopic children in general, nor (fortunately) many people with pathological shortsightedness in particular. She has an eye that has grown too long, and the potential risk of possible myopia-related adverse events later in live is 100%. I will care about my daughter.

The 6-year follow-up clinical study on Miyosmart spectacle lens was presented at the Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting in Denver in May 2022. What are the key findings? Firstly, we, Hoya, are proud to present the first 6-year long-term study on myopia control spectacle lenses. We can now scientifically investigate different scenarios we have encountered in practice over such a period of time. The key findings show us how myopia progresses when wearing Miyosmart or single-vision spectacle lenses, whether the treatment effect

lasts as long as the lens is worn, and whether reverting to single-vision lenses leads to a rebound effect. The results are extremely promising. The treatment effect lasted over the entire study period and at a level that the International Myopia Institute recognizes as normal eye growth.2 The children who switched after two years showed a significant and immediate effect, which persisted for the remaining four years. In the children who stopped wearing Miyosmart, myopia progressed at the same age-appropriate level as in non-treated myopic children. No accelerated progression was shown over the first two years as a control group. This indicates for me, that there is no rebound effect.3

What innovations

are there still to come at

Hoya for myopia management?

Together with the partnerships with frame and equipment manufacturers, Hoya will continue to provide comprehensive support to ECPs in myopia management. We are partnering with researchers globally to conduct a series of studies on myopia management. Our training programs for ophthalmologists, orthoptists, and optometrists; expert discussions; and our team will further be expanded. An endcustomer campaign is currently being planned, and you can look forward to furthering innovations and developments. ◆

1 h ttps://bhvi.org/news/the-impact-of-myopia-and-high-myopia/ (access date 30.11.2022)

2 Gifford KL, Richdale K, Kang P, et al. IMI – Clinical Management Guidelines Report. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci, 2019;60(3): M184-M203. doi:10.1167/iovs.18-25977.

3 L am CSY, Tang WC, Zhang A, et al. Myopia control in children wearing DIMS spectacle lenses: 6-year results. The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2022 Annual Meeting, May 1-4, Denver, USA.

Pascal Blaser

Advertising with Google

How not to be the "needle in the haystack"

Even for small and medium-sized enterprises, the Internet is playing an increasingly important role in customer acquisition. More and more potential customers are searching the Internet, with the "Google" search engine being the focus of users. But if you use Google yourself, you will quickly notice that the search engine displays so many hits that the individual entries become the famous needles in the haystack. One way to push yourself into the focus of searchers is to display ads via Google Ads. In this article, we will show you how you can be found quickly by (new) customers on Google at low cost.

By Hartmut Fischer

What are "Google Ads"?

Google Ads are paid search ads. A distinction is made between different models. The classic Google Ads basically consist of text only. This has the advantage for you that you do not have to spend a lot of effort on the design. However, Google Ad gives you a number of options to design the text and the ad size. Depending on which keywords you specify (we'll go into detail about creating an ad), your ad will appear as a paid ad at the top of the search results list. The Google shopping ads are supplemented with photos. They appear either before the classic Google ads or in the right margin next to the search results list. However, these ads can only be used if the associated link leads to an online store. You can use YouTube Ads if you want to link to a video on YouTube. Since the classic (text) Google Ad is almost always the solution with the best price/performance ratio for you, we will focus on this type.

Why run Google Ads?

You might wonder why you should place ads at all. The answer is that no one looks at all search results. That's why it's important to be displayed as far to the front of the results list as possible.

Now there are several methods to improve the ranking in the list. Your website should be optimized for search engines. Experts refer to this as SEO, the abbreviation for Search Engine Optimization. However, if you want to optimize your website yourself, it will cost you a lot of time. If you hire professionals to do it for you, you will pay a considerable amount of money.

The simple Google Ad ads, which are automatically displayed as far as possible in the front of the list (or even to the right) and where you can decide for yourself how much money you want to invest, are definitely cheaper.

How much do Google Ad ads cost?

It might amaze you, but a Google Ad costs nothing to begin with. The publication is free of charge. Only when the ad is clicked, fees are incurred. You decide for yourself how much this click is worth to you. The average values here are between five cents and four euros. To ensure that the costs don't get out of hand, you can determine yourself how much money should be spent per day and per month. If the daily budget is not completely used up, it is carried over to the next days.

Prerequisites for Google Ad

The most important prerequisite for the success of a Google Ad campaign is a well-functioning website to which the ad links. So before starting a campaign, you should first put your website through its paces and perhaps have it evaluated by knowledgeable acquaintances or friends. Prospective customers who arrive at your site via Google Ad and are disappointed there are likely to be lost forever.

To run a Google Ad campaign, you need a Google account. We will explain how to create an account in the next section.

Creating a Google Account

If you already have a Google account, you can skip this section. If you want to create an account, go to the Google Ad home page (https://ads. google.com) and click " Start now" in the upper right corner.

In the login window that then appears, click on "create account" at the bottom left and on "for my company" in the list that opens. A dialog will now be started, which you have to go through for the account registration. The dialog will try to lure you to the Gmail email service. However, you can also use your current address to create the account by clicking on the entry "Use my current email address instead" in the "Create Google Account" screen under the input line for the email address. You will then be taken to an additional dialog.

If you have selected to create the account to be used for your company, at the end of the account creation dialog there is an option to create a company profile. We recommend you to create it. However, it is not absolutely necessary for the start of an ad campaign.

With the bid for the click you define how much you want to invest per click at maximum. The higher this amount, the more often your page will be displayed.

▶

With the bid for the click you define how much you want to invest per click at maximum. The higher this amount, the more often your page will be displayed. The price is automatically set so that it is at least one cent above the competitor – until its maximum value is reached. Example: You have set one euro as the maximum price. Competitor B offers 46 cents. You then pay 47 cents per click. Competitor C pays € 1.10. Your offer cannot be higher because you have set a maximum limit of € 1.00.

▶

If you have a very specific offer or a narrowly defined area where you expect few competitors, you can set the price lower. Control your budget manually. If you want to continue the campaign, you can also increase the budget.

▶

Starting a Google Ad campaign

To start a Google Ad campaign, first go to the start page of Google Ad (https://ads.google.com) and click on "Start now" at the top right. You will then be guided through a self-explanatory dialog. Here we explain the most important points you should pay attention to in the dialog.

▶ Concentrate your campaign on one product from your range. First, you don't have enough space for an overall presentation, and second, experience shows that targeted sales campaigns are more successful.

▶ First, select "search network only" for your campaign. The selection can also be changed or extended later. Then assign a name for the campaign. It is best to follow a fixed scheme so that you can keep track of several campaigns.

▶ The location information is especially important for your store if you do not run an online store and your store wants to reach a regional audience.

▶ You should always set a fixed daily and monthly budget and a maximum click price. The "automatic" function can quickly overdraw your bank account.

▶ You only have 25 characters (including spaces) for the headline of your ad. So think carefully about what you write. If there is no other way, use (well-known or comprehensible) abbreviations.

▶ You have 35 characters in the following two lines. Here you should elaborate on how your product helps the customer and highlight special features. If the ad does not bring the desired success, you can change it at any time.

▶ Distinguish between the displayed URL and the destination URL (internet address of your page). The displayed URL should be that of your home page. This is what will be displayed to the prospect. The target URL should be the address where you present the advertised product. If in doubt, create a new page for this purpose. With the keywords you define for which words that a searcher enters, your ad should be shown. At the same time, you can also define for which words your ad should not be shown. Example: Keywords: spectacle frame, spectacle lens, glasses. Negative keyword: monocle (if this is not what you are offering).

Google does not only determine the placements according to the offered price per click. The system also checks how high the clickthrough rate (CTR) is. The click-through rate shows what percentage of searchers who entered their keywords also clicked on the ad. The higher the click-through rate, the more interesting the ad is for Google users. It is then ranked accordingly higher.

▶ Check all the details before you start the ad campaign. Also monitor the ad during its runtime. If necessary, the ad can be changed and adjusted at any time.

How to monitor your success

If you want to know if your website has become more popular, it is enough to count the number of page visitors. This will also be displayed in the management tool of your campaign. However, if you want the visitor to take a certain action (buy a product, download a price list, sign up for a newsletter, etc.), you can measure your success here as well. Google refers to these visitor activities as conversion. The desired action must actually be performed on your target page. To capture it, you need a tracking code provided by Google, which is built into the page where the action takes place.

The "conversion rate" shows you what percentage of prospects who arrived on your page through the ad performed the desired action. ◆

Hartmut Fischer

Hartmut Fischer has been a self-employed freelance journalist for the past 14 years, specializing in SMEs and retail issues. As a coach, he also advises small and medium-sized companies on communication issues.

The jester's spectacles

The oldest illustrations of a reading aid in the form of a single lens or rivet eyeglasses date from the middle of the 14th century. They were always depicted with their owner, usually these were from the upper class of the clergy, all in old age. Few could afford glasses at that time, however, few were dependent on them at that time. Since the biconvex lenses could only compensate for presbyopia, the glasses wearers were usually well over 50 years old, and their presbyopia required compensation with the equivalent of 3.0 to 4.0 diopters.

By Hans-Walter Roth

The glasses were necessary for work at close range, primarily for reading and writing. For this, a certain education was required. Also, the financial means had to be sufficient, it is estimated that the price of the optics at that time was a whole year's income for the upper-class cleric. The craftsman did not wear a visual aid, the farmer, the carpenter, the blacksmith did not need it. The authorities had the texts read to them, the soldier did not need them due to his low life expectancy at that time. Women as spectacle wearers were extremely rare, appearing with their lorgnettes only in the fashion magazines of the 19 th century. The

early illustrations of glasses almost always show them with their owner, usually a bishop or cardinal. From 1450 this changes, after the invention of the printing press and the possibility of now multiplying texts or images at will, spectacles are also found in the woodcuts of contemporary literature. But now the spectacles no longer belonged to the clergy, they belong primarily to the teacher, who is portrayed in the picture as a donkey or a fool with a jingle cap. His spectacles are now made of cheap wood; valuable frames of gold, silver or ivory are by no means granted to the jester.

In the illustrations of the time, one repeatedly finds the spectacles on the bridge of the fool's nose. It seems that the painters or graphic artists wanted to express that people with a lack of intelligence were trying to compensate for this by wearing spectacles. They wanted to signal that only the fool needed spectacles or wanted to mark him as a fool by wearing spectacles. The most famous works of the time show the teacher as a donkey with eyeglasses in front of his student. In the most famous writing of the time, the Ship of Fools, the stupid, the limited or disabled person wears them. Already a century later, this mode of representation has changed completely. Now the spectacles no longer belong to the jester, they are the sign of the merchant, the trader. Jakob Fugger has them on his office table; Rembrandt's moneychanger wears them to count his coins. Today, spectacles are commonplace. Gone are the days when their wearers were teased and called four-eye. Advertising and fashion have recognized spectacles as a product and offer designer eyewear, the frame of which exceeds the value of the lenses many times over. All major fashion houses now have their fixed market shares. The pictured jester spectacles are from the carnival days of the post-war period. They were part of the disguise at that time, just as in Venice spectacles are a historically fixed motif in the carnival in Germany. The mask of the plague doctor would be unthinkable there without the visual aid. These modern-day jester's spectacles were found on sale in a junk dealer's shop. The former wearer and his motives remain unknown, no one knows by which fool it was once worn. On the back of the cardboard nose glued to the bridge of the frame you can still read its price, three German marks are written there in pencil. It has now been acquired for the Roth collection at a price of three euros. ◆

Ophthalmologist and Director of the Contact Lens Research Institute in Ulm, Germany, is the author of numerous publications and books on the physiology of the contact lens and the history of eyesight. He is a city councilor of the city of Ulm, specializing in education, social affairs, art and culture. He is also the founder of the Ulm Hospital for the Poor.

The most famous works of the time show the teacher as a donkey with eyeglasses in front of his student. In the most famous writing of the time, the Ship of Fools, the stupid, the limited or disabled person wears them.

Dr. Hans-Walter Roth

Application

Cleaning machinery

Technical data

Process

Duality

DualityAR CS10

Small labs x

Medium sized labs x x Large labs x x

Cleaning after deblocking, detaping, polishing, before inspection x x x

Cleaning before coating x x Cleaning after edging x x

Productivity [up to Ø lenses per hour] 120 lenses per hour (one side) / 150 lenses per hour (both sides) 120

Lenses in process (total number) 5 5 up to 90

Total process time in the machine [min] 1 1/2 1 1/2 25 to 35mn

Weight [kg / lbs] (machine without conveyor) 582 / 1282 582 / 1282 TBD

Dimensions [w x d x h] / [mm / inches] (machine without conveyor) 2159 x 965 x 1778 / 85 x 38 x 70 2159 x 965 x 1778 / 85 x 38 x 70 max. 2600 x 1300 x 2600

Power consumption (kW) Single phase, 220V/25A (2 outlets req.) max. 20kW

Tap water consumption (liters/hour) 6 6 85

Number of tanks 5 to 9 Tanks (volume in liter) 8

Loading / unloading (manual / automated) o o automated

Brush cleaning x x / Ultrasonic immersion cleaning / / x Spray cleaning x x / Drying module [hot air / cold air / infrared / vacuum/ lift out / solvent] cold air cold air x

Environmentally friendly process (E.g. cascading from clean to dirty tanks, reduced chemical consumption etc.)

Features

Alloy is actively filtered through a 50 micron water filter and multiple stainless 200 micron screen filters.

Rinsing water saving system / zero waste / energy efficient.

Industry 4.0 ready / / x

Barcode reader x x x Detergent refilling automatic x Remote diagnostic x

Further information Available with or without heating (240v) and/or as a wash-only machine

Legend: Yes = x; No = /, Optional = o

lens cleaning

Coburn

Application

Cleaning machinery

Technical data

CV20

FISA

Process

CV40 UCS40

Small labs x Medium sized labs x x Large labs x x Cleaning after deblocking, detaping, polishing, before inspection x

Cleaning before coating x x x Cleaning after edging x x x

Productivity [up to Ø lenses per hour] 288 576 40 Lenses in process (total number) up to 120 up to 240 60

Total process time in the machine [min] 25 to 35 minutes 5

Weight [kg / lbs] (machine without conveyor) TBD 222kg Dimensions [w x d x h] / [mm / inches] (machine without conveyor) max. 2600 x 1200 x 2600 max. 3700 x 1200 x 2600930mm x 734.3mm x 1077.5mm

Power consumption (kW) max. 15kW max. 20kW 2,5 Tap water consumption (liters/hour) 110 135 0

Number of tanks 3 to 6 3 to 6 4 Tanks (volume in liter) 18 38 66,9

Loading / unloading (manual / automated) automated automated

Brush cleaning / / / Ultrasonic immersion cleaning x x x Spray cleaning / / / Drying module [hot air / cold air / infrared / vacuum/ lift out / solvent] x x infrared

Environmentally friendly process (E.g. cascading from clean to dirty tanks, reduced chemical consumption etc.)

Features

Rinsing water saving system / zero waste / energy efficient x

Industry 4.0 ready x x x Barcode reader x x o Detergent refilling automatic x x / Remote diagnostic x x x Further information

lens cleaning lens cleaning

Legend: Yes = x; No = /, Optional = o

Optimal Technologies Satisloh www.optimal-technologies.com www.satisloh.com/ophthalmic/cleaning/

Cleaning machinery

UCS200

Application

Technical data

Process

Hydra-Sonic-5 Hydra-Sonic-10

Small labs x x x Medium sized labs x / / Large labs x / / Cleaning after deblocking, detaping, polishing, before inspection x x x Cleaning before coating x x x Cleaning after edging x / /

Productivity [up to Ø lenses per hour] 200 72 72 Lenses in process (total number) 126 6 6

Total process time in the machine [min] 5 20 (for the first basket) 30 (for the first basket)

Weight [kg / lbs] (machine without conveyor) 1030kg 230 / 507 340 / 750 Dimensions [w x d x h] / [mm / inches] (machine without conveyor) 1883mm x 1375mm x 2100mm1300 x 650 x 1400 / 51 x 26 x 558 1500 x 800 x 1300 / 59 x 32 x 51

Power consumption (kW) 5 2.5 3 Tap water consumption (liters/hour) 132 110 225 Number of tanks 5 4 6 Tanks (volume in liter) 77,2 4 4

Loading / unloading (manual / automated) automated manual Brush cleaning / / / Ultrasonic immersion cleaning x x x Spray cleaning / / / Drying module [hot air / cold air / infrared / vacuum/ lift out / solvent] infrared lift out

Environmentally friendly process (E.g. cascading from clean to dirty tanks, reduced chemical consumption etc.) x

Features

Low consumption of detergents and water. Low tap water consumption.

Industry 4.0 ready x / / Barcode reader o / / Detergent refilling automatic / / / Remote diagnostic x / /

Further information

Legend: Yes = x; No = /, Optional = o

The patented conveyor housing protects the driver chain from water and detergent, meaning less maintenance and downtime, no cross contamination between chambers, and reduced detergent consumption

consumption of detergents & water. Environm. friendly drying system with IR heaters.

Low tap water consumption due to cascading from clean to dirty tanks Rinsing water cascading x x x / x / x x / x / o o / / / / / / x

The patented conveyor housing protects the driver chain from water + detergent, meaning less maintenance and downtime, no cross contamination between chambers and reduced detergent consumption, MARKET SURVEYS

Application

Cleaning machinery

Technical data

Small labs / x x Medium sized labs x Large labs x

Cleaning after deblocking, detaping, polishing, before inspection x x x Cleaning before coating x x x Cleaning after edging x

Productivity [up to Ø lenses per hour] 300 100 200 Lenses in process (total number) 66 8 16

Total process time in the machine [min] 12 30 30

Weight [kg / lbs] (machine without conveyor) 1800 / 3968 Dimensions [w x d x h] / [mm / inches] (machine without conveyor) 7954 x 2056 x 2860 / 313 x 81 x 113

Power consumption (kW) Tap water consumption (liters/hour) 120 (DI water) 250 300

Number of tanks 4 5 5 Tanks (volume in liter) 60 5 9

Loading / unloading (manual / automated) manual / automated manual

Process

Brush cleaning x Ultrasonic immersion cleaning / x x Spray cleaning /

Drying module [hot air / cold air / infrared / vacuum/ lift out / solvent] hot air IR IR

Environmentally friendly process (E.g. cascading from clean to dirty tanks, reduced chemical consumption etc.) rinsing water cascading

Features

cascading sequenced flow

Industry 4.0 ready x Barcode reader / Detergent refilling automatic o x x Remote diagnostic x / / Further information

Legend: Yes = x; No = /, Optional = o

Application

Cleaning machinery

Technical data

Small labs x x x Medium sized labs x Large labs x x x

Cleaning after deblocking, detaping, polishing, before inspection x x

Cleaning before coating x x Cleaning after edging x x

Productivity [up to Ø lenses per hour] 100 60 60

Lenses in process (total number) 30 54 (exc conveyors) 55 (exc conveyors)

Total process time in the machine [min] 5 min tact time - 20 min typical full process time 5 min tact time - 30 min typical full process time 5 min tact time - 40 min typical full process time

Weight [kg / lbs] (machine without conveyor)

Dimensions [w x d x h] / [mm / inches] (machine without conveyor)

Process

Length 1000 mm inc conveyors; Depth 1000 mm; Height 1000 mm Length 2100 mm inc conveyors; Depth 1000 mm; Height 2000 mm Length 2100 mm inc conveyors; Depth 1000 mm; Height 2000 mm

Power consumption (kW) 8 kW 8 kW Tap water consumption (liters/hour) <20 <20 <20

Number of tanks 4 6 6 Tanks (volume in liter) 10 3.5 and 7 3.5 and 7

Loading / unloading (manual / automated) manual manual/conveyor/auto Brush cleaning Ultrasonic immersion cleaning x x x Spray cleaning / o o Drying module [hot air / cold air / infrared / vacuum/ lift out / solvent] infrared / lift out lift out + hot air / infrared

Environmentally friendly process (E.g. cascading from clean to dirty tanks, reduced chemical consumption etc.)

Features

Compact, low energy system. No compressed air required.

Automatic start and shut-down. Heating efficiency monitor. Auto chemical management option. Cascading rinse water option. Effluent treatment option. No compressed air.

Industry 4.0 ready o o o Barcode reader o o o

Detergent refilling automatic / o o Remote diagnostic x x x

Further information

Legend: Yes = x; No = /, Optional = o

Highly compact system without compromising on quality or functionality.

Shyre www.shyre.co.uk

Length 2954 mm inc conveyors; Depth 1080 mm; Height 2000 mm bespoke 12 kW 20-40 kW typical <40 100-500 typical 7 bespoke 8 and 17 40+

Conveyor/Auto

Automatic start and shut-down. Heating efficiency monitor. Auto chemical management option. Cascading rinse water option. Effluent treatment option. No compressed air.

Automatic start and shut-down. Heating efficiency monitor. Auto chemical management option. Cascading rinse water option. Effluent treatment option.

Advanced Pre-Treatment for the modern lab. Providing superior quality, Functionality and process control.

Advanced Cleaning for the modern lab. Providing superior quality, Functionality and process control.

The most advanced, fully functional bespoke PreTreatment systems for mass production facilities.

The most advanced, fully functional, bespoke Precision Cleaning systems for mass production facilities.

The most advanced, fully functional, bespoke Tool Cleaning systems for mass production facilities.

Satisloh AG Neuhofstrasse 12 CH - 6340 Baar / Switzerland

Phone: +41 (0) 41766 16 16 Email: info@satisloh.com satisloh.com

SCHNEIDER GmbH & Co. KG Biegenstrasse 8–12 · 35112 Fronhausen · Germany

Phone: +49 (64 26) 96 96-0 · Fax: +49 (64 26) 96 96-100 www.schneider-om.com · info@schneider-om.com

If you could change one thing in the world, what would that be?

In the words of Lenny Kravitz, “We got to let love rule”.

In your opinion, which movie/book should everyone have seen/read?

The old school comedy movie “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”. And read your daily newspaper every day to support local journalism.

If your life were to be filmed, which actor should play your role? Tom Cruise in the character of Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell.

Which celebrity – past or present – would you most like to meet personally, and why?

I would meet Leonardo da Vinci in Milan and take a tour of Italy with him.

If you had to do without one of your senses – vision or hearing – which would it be?

Of course, it would be a great tragedy not listening to the Rolling Stones; however, I have dedicated most of my life to helping people see better, and vision is the most important sense in my view.

What is your favorite place in the world?

I am still working on that; traveling is the best and I meet incredible people everywhere I go!

Robert L. Kohn

– an industry veteran who thrives on challenges

Aged 54, the President North America of A&R Optical Machinery looks back on 25 years in the optical industry. Kohn loves the challenges his professional life offers and enjoys the many interesting people he meets both at work and while traveling. His favorite leisure time activity is playing all kinds of sports with his 14-year-old son.

What was the last event that deeply moved you? The images from the James Webb Space Telescope connecting humanity to the cosmos .

What does a perfect day at work look like to you?

I love what I do, and genuinely look forward to each day but some days I learn something new and those are perfect days for me.

Which profession did your parents have in mind for you?

My parents were quite strict but they always taught me to work hard, never give up, and to find my own path.

If you didn´t do your current job, what else would you do? I would volunteer to be a taster for the Michelin Star award committee.

What is the best thing about your job?

The optical industry is filled with bright, interesting, and innovative people. For me, it is the people that are the best thing about my job.

When was the last time you were fed up with your job?

The older I get the more I enjoy taking a difficult situation and turning it into a positive one, I love the challenge. ◆

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