More than 300 delegates joined Zeiss Vision staff from the UK and Germany for a day of education and entertainment at the Visionaries Conference at London’s Battersea Evolution.
Carl Zeiss Vision UK and Ireland managing director Andrew Leong-Son opened the event with a presentation that majored on the company’s history and foundation structure, that allowed for more financial spend on product and partnership innovation, which he said would allow delegates’ businesses to thrive.
He reiterated the company’s commitment to never being a competitor to its partners and never selling direct to consumers.
A post-lunch futurist panel debate looked at the how the world of retail and optometry would be disrupted in future. Disruptive technology expert, John Straw, was particularly keen to talk about intelligent glasses and how, in his opinion, they would start to become the norm within the three years.
This, he said, would ultimately lead to an evolution of roles in optical practices, with dispensing opticians and optometrists possibly taking on the moniker of vision techs, that sit somewhere between Apple Store Genius and registered eye care practitioner.
Away from the presentations, the event’s Youniverse space showcased the company’s suite of equipment, ophthalmic lenses, and business marketing tools.