With Vision Expo East capping the run of international optical trade shows that reside in the first three months of the year this weekend, it seems a good time to share some related thoughts.
This is the first year since the pandemic that the various shows have been able to revert to their established slots on the calendar, which, in Mido president Giovanni Vitaloni’s view, is beneficial to keeping the optical industry moving forward efficiently. Beyond the concrete advantages he outlines, I suspect I’m not the only person in optics who takes some satisfaction at what could be considered the natural order being restored after the chaos of Covid.
However, a personal silver lining of attending fewer and smaller trade shows over the pandemic was a refreshed outlook at the big events I’ve made it to so far this year. It is very easy for those involved in optics to become accustomed to some of the brilliant advances first showcased at trade shows.
In fact, placing the most impressive developments trailed at Opti Munich and 100% Optical in context of where things stood when I first started covering the industry well over a decade ago, made me question how these products and technologies are viewed by patients. Science fiction writer and futurist Arthur C Clarke’s third law famously states that ‘any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic’, and I don’t think I’m stretching things too far to suggest this can apply to even a relatively well-informed patient when presented with the best the industry has to offer.
Several of the smartest companies in optics have been talking about the value in providing luxury retail experiences. I would put forward that there may be room for some magic in the patient experience equation. So, why not consider fine-tuning communication skills within a practice team to better convey the wonder of the latest version of an advanced imaging platform, a contact lens that slows myopia progression, a pair of spectacles constructed with zero waste, or a lens coating that is borderline impervious to scratches, to patients?