Essilor says change is very much at the heart of its eighth generation Varilux progressive lens, the X series. Change, not just in the visual needs of the modern presbyope, but change in how the company has approached R&D and changes in the market have followed each Varilux release.
With the Generation X lens, Essilor claims to have re-invented near vision at arm’s length and developed the first progressive lens that matches the volume of vision that wearers demand in the modern world.
The lens gets its name from the Generation X demographic. Sandwiched between baby-boomers (typically born between mid-1940s to mid-1960s) and millennials (born in the mid-1980s and early 2000s), Generation X is made up of what Essilor says is the next tranche of presbyopic patients.
Essilor head of marketing Jonathan Cohen kicked off his keynote at the UK launch of the lens, held at the Midland Hotel in Manchester (May 22), by outlining why the needs of Generation X were different from before. ‘Generation X was the first to group to have grown up with and be comfortable with computers and later started the technology revolution,’ he told delegates.
Their pace of life is fast and very nearly all of what matters to them is within arm’s reach. Generation X is also very demanding, says Cohen, and individuals want to keep up with the pace of life with seamless integration – this means reducing the amount of head movement wearers undertake to find the ‘sweet spot’.
‘We will liberate Generation X presbyopes who are multi-tasking all day in an accelerated and online world and always feel rushed. Progressive lenses should not slow them down. They expect visual fluidity yet even the latest technology continues to force them to move to find the right vision zone,’ says Cohen.
Helping wearers find the right zone has been made easier with the development of Xtend lens calculation technology, which shapes specific zones for different targets within the arm’s length vision zone. Previously each Nanoptix element was optimised to manage one target for one gaze direction. With this lens, Nanoptix elements are cross-optimised by clusters of seven to manage multiple targets for one gaze direction.
New types of research
Essilor consumer innovations manager Benjamin Rousseau says the company has taken a new approach to ‘design thinking’ when creating the new lens. The end user was put at the heart of research, with their needs paramount.
Wearer studies were said to have been the most comprehensive and innovative of any lens on the market, to be sure that developments in the new concept represented a significant improvement in performance. Five wearer trials across Europe, endorsed by the Paris Vision Institute, involved over 300 wearers, multi-disciplinary teams of physiology specialists, designers and sociologists.
Results suggested the needs of presbyopes today had changed dramatically when compared to older generations. Multi-tasking is normal and the majority use a broad range of digital devices. As much as 90% of their time is spent indoors, research found, meaning that presbyopes are mostly using near and intermediate distances. Not just undertaking visual tasks as close vision is associated with personal space and emotional situations.
The survey-based research was bolstered by new data for design parameters from Essilor’s recently developed experimental laboratory, Movis. Sensors placed over the bodies of wearers, as well as infrared cameras, captured movement and postural behaviour. Modelling these movements generated data to run studies of people wearing the new lenses while using stairs, repairing small objects and multitasking.
Laboratory trials also tested wearers in a simulated home environment to recreate wearer behaviour and test near vision performance. Essilor says wearers scored their satisfaction levels from 95% and 100% after reading lying down, watching movies on tablets while texting, doing beauty tasks, completing precise tasks and looking at a dashboard.
While earlier designs of progressive lenses have been based on a single distance for near vision, at 40cm, and in one viewing direction only, the new lens can handle multiple near distances in a 40-70cm arm’s length sphere, giving extended vision.
It will offer a 75% match with wearers’ visual needs within arm’s length, the highest match ever achieved by a progressive lens, says Essilor, compared with the 59% match average from alternative premium progressive designs.
Near vision
One of the most significant developments introduced through the new research and innovation methods has been the new measuring protocol to optimise the Generation X lens at near vision length, with a new system for opticians to measure a patient’s individual Near Vision Behaviour (NVB). This captures both static posture and dynamic movement of eyes and documents during reading.
Essilor says unlike previous varifocal lens personalisation tools which are more oriented to distance vision than near vision, NVB captures natural posture more accurately, by measuring the wearer seated, reading comfortably, just using an iPad and a newly designed measurement device. Near Vision Behaviour captures four measurements to fine tune and optimise the shape and position of vision volume, including a wearer’s gaze lowering, distance, lateral offset and visual behaviour.
The company has also revised its measurement device, Visioffice, to offer a complete in-practice experience that brings together fitting, physiological and behavioural measures to build a complete vision diagnostic for patients, used in the fully tailored 4D version of Varilux X.
It is here where Essilor and brand ambassadors who have been trialling the lens in recent months can leverage the benefits for Generation X, say independent practices.
Andy Chapman, dispensing opticians and managing director of independent group Chapmans Opticians, is one of the ambassadors dispensing the lens. ‘X has given us a business edge. It introduces a sense of theatre to the dispensing process and patients like the fact that we’re taking a greater interest in their behaviours,’ he says.
Chapman has also noticed another significant change in patients – at the point of collection. ‘There has been sea change in the attitude of patients when collecting their glasses. They seem to be excited by the whole experience and the results when wearing the glasses for the first time.’
Personalisation
Wearer studies from Essilor back up Chapman’s experiences. When patients tested new glasses after being measured, 100% preferred them to the previous pair, compared to 84% who tested the same lens without being measured. It also showed that up to 89% of wearers who experienced personalisation said it had a strong impact on lens performance.
‘There is not one type of near distance but multiple near distances that are important to wearers and this allows them to seamlessly capture every detail within arm’s reach and beyond with the best vision volume match,’ says Cohen.
‘Everyone has different behaviour so it is worth personalising the shape and the position of the volume of clear vision delivered by the lens. This gives the best match between the volume needed and the volume that the lens offers. It is quick, easy and intuitive, gives the patient a complete vision diagnostic and an enjoyable 360˚experience.
‘We have combined a revolutionary new lens which wearers have rigorously tested and approved with the powers of personalisation and a stronger in store experience. The lenses and new NVB measure can deliver accelerated fluidity and adaptation in a traditionally challenging area, and make it easier to explain the benefits of premium lenses.’