Optrafair London in pictures

Olympia National opened its doors to optics last week for the inaugural Optrafair London show.

Inside the exhibition hall there was the opportunity to browse the latest products from the frame, lens and instrument sectors.

One such example was a demonstration of prescription frames and lenses for users of Google Glass by Waterside Laboratories, now UK reseller for New York-based Rochester Optical’s Smart Gold range.

Waterside Laboratories managing director Bob Forgan said: ‘By the end of 2018 it is estimated that Google will have sold 21 million units of their Glass and with over 50 per cent of the adult population needing some type of visual correction this has to be an area of the business that will offer phenomenal opportunities in the very near future.’

An education programme of seminars and workshops ran alongside the exhibition, offering 72 CET points across a range disciplines. Optometrist David Brett Williams got the 18-hour lecture schedule started with his presentation on The Principles behind Great Patient Experiences.

A queue also formed for the Show and Tell Workshops area near the Seminar zone, with instrument firms including Topcon showcasing the latest OCT equipment.

Meanwhile, Vision Express invited visitors to its stand to take part in peer review sessions on a first-come-first-served basis.Other features available to visitors to the show were window dressing demonstrations and an interactive Ask the Expert area where topical issues were discussed.

ABDO president Peter Black delivered a session on the illegal supply of glasses and contact lenses, both within high street and online settings. ‘The internet is a vexed issue to our professions. We are all aware of a whole host of online suppliers, many of them offshore, who will supply contact lenses without a valid specification, spectacles to children and inappropriate low vision aids to the certified visually impaired – all of which are arguably illegal in this country. Yet many of the lawbreakers see themselves as providing a better service than what is available on the high street,’ he said.

Black also proposed a law change ensuring ready readers say on their packet that patients should have an eye test every two years.