Hoya
Enroute
Hoya says it’s the eyes that are bearing the brunt of an increasing amount time spent on the roads. Ninety per cent of a driver’s reaction time depends on vision, the company adds, so impaired vision means slower reaction times.
Launched earlier this year at Optrafair, Hoya’s Enroute lens is designed specifically to minimise stress placed on the visual system of the motorist.
At the heart of the new lens is a new glare filter, said to enhance comfort and confidence on the road. Like other driving lenses, the filter specifically cuts light in the blue spectrum, reducing light scatter and distracting glare from the dashboard, streetlights and the headlights of oncoming traffic. At the same time, it enhances the transmittance of necessary light, improving contrast and brightness perception. The result, says Hoya, is more comfortable, relaxed vision even in low-light, bad weather and other stressful driving situations.
Enroute progressive lenses incorporate the company’s Integrated Double Surface Design for wider visual fields and fast switching between distances, and Balanced View Control for stable image perception in dynamic driving situations.
Professional or enthusiast drivers may find the Enroute Pro of particular interest. The lens offers all the benefits of Enroute, along with the addition of a contrast-enhancing filter for improved contrast and colour perception, and even better glare reduction than the standard lens. EnRoute Progressive Pro takes the concept one step further, with an optimised design for the viewing distance of the dashboard and mirrors, and offers optional tailoring to the patient’s wearing conditions to help the driver adopt a relaxed driving posture.
BBGR
Night Drive Boost
BBGR admits that until recently, innovation in the optical sector had not matched the rapidly changing nature of innovation in vehicle technology, leaving drivers to tolerate excessive amounts of glare.
Its latest coating, Night Drive Boost offers a performance boost over the Neva Max UV coating by optimising the lens against glare commonly associated with night driving. This addition does not affect day time performance in any way, making Neva Max UV with Night Drive Boost coated lenses a perfect combination for all day lenses.
Night Drive Boost wearers will notice a significant decrease in the effect of light halos commonly associated with modern Xenon and LED headlights, says the company, giving patients more comfortable, safer vision when driving at night. This is achieved through the use of BBGR’s Reflect Control Technology, which cuts down on reflections on the surface of the lens and smooths out the rays of light transmitted through the lens.
Carl Zeiss
Drivesafe
Carl Zeiss stole a march on its competitors with the 2015 launch of Drivesafe, specifically designed for patients who wanted to feel safer and more comfortable when driving with their everyday lenses.
Consumer research revealed a lack of confidence when driving in difficult light and weather conditions was one of the main concerns. Luminance Design Technology was developed to boost performance in these mesopic conditions by allowing for a wider, varying pupil size in different light intensities.
Glare was another major factor and led Carl Zeiss to produce the Drivesafe coating for its Duravision line up. Modern LED and Xenon-style headlights pose a particular challenge, with the blueish, high-energy part of the visible spectrum, in particular in the 440–470 nm range, making for a lot of light scatter and glare.
The Drivesafe coating has been tuned to reflect this part of the spectrum, which the company says can reduce perceived glare by up to 64% compared to premium AR coatings.
Rodenstock
Road 2
Many motoring enthusiasts will appreciate parts that come with Technischer Überwachungsverein (TÜV) approval. With Rodenstock Road 2, they can now have a driving lens with the same certification.
The first lenses to verifiably improve vision while driving, Road 2’s progressive option underwent a series of practical tests based on criteria crucial for safe driving: acclimatisation period, field of vision, glare, contrasts, colour reproduction and cleaning.
Specific fields of vision were tested at all distances, as was perception of the cockpit and mirror as well as vision when parking. Colour reproduction tests looked at the perception of signal lights in different light conditions. The lens exceeded the requirements for certification with a high user acceptance level, says Rodenstock.
The lenses were said to provide large visual zones, which have been optimised for quick shifts of focus. In addition, overlapping visual zones for the right and left eye support spatial vision and simplify the estimation of distances when passing or parking.
Eye Lens Technology aids night-time driving. When the pupils dilate in darkness, the high order aberrations have the strongest effect on the visual system. Pupil-optimised correction within the lens provides better vision in dark conditions.
Road lenses can also be specified with Solitaire Protect, a combination of a premium anti-reflection coating and a 12% filter tint to minimise reflections on the back side and unpleasant headlight glare with high-contrast vision during for day time driving.
Seiko
Drive SV
According to Seiko, around 75% of motorists feel stressed when driving in the dark. It says the colour messages that reach the eyes in twilight and at nightfall stretch them to the limit of their capacity. This is amplified by the increased sensitivity of glare and light into dilated pupils.
Drive lenses feature Seiko’s new Road Clear Coat (RCC), developed to manage the dazzling light density caused my modern car headlights. Night driving performance is increased by a reduction in the amount of distracting reflections from not just headlights in the 400-570nm range of the light spectrum, but wet surfaces and other sources of light.
The company has paid particular attention the cleaning performance of the RCC coating, as any dirt or smudges can severely hamper clarity in poor light conditions. Improved antistatic properties attract less dirt and dust, and the smooth surface of the coating makes removal of any water, dust or dirt much easier.
Optical vision right up to the edges of the lens provides a better central view of the road ahead and the rear-view and wing mirrors.
Transitions
Drivewear
Transitions’ Drivewear lens were the first of their kind to sense and react to changeable light conditions inside and out of the car. Drivers are often subjected to constant changing weather conditions that affect visibility, but unlike fixed tint sunglasses, Drivewear lenses offer glare protection through polarisation and enhance and protect using photochromic properties.
The impact resistant Trivex lenses have a high contrast green/yellow hue in low daylight, designed to maximise useful light information reaching the eye. In average sunlight conditions the lenses turn to a copper red, promoting preferential activation of the eye’s red cones (and to a lesser extent, green cones) and result in the best possible vision at these higher light levels, says Transitions.
In bright sunshine, the lenses reach a deep brown colour designed for maximum filtration so that the eye does not get saturated. Transitions states the lenses must not be used in their yellow state for night driving.
