HOYA Vision Care Europe has developed and made available in the US market an augmented reality app for the iPad, known as the HOYA Vision Consultant Viewer, or HVC Viewer for short. The HVC Viewer allows patients to experience the benefits of their HOYA lenses before they buy them. Here’s how it works: The optician picks the appropriate lens type for the patient from the available modules–for example progressive lenses–then the patient holds up the iPad and through the camera can look around the room to see the benefits HOYA progressive lenses will provide as they would experience them.
“This is an exciting use of technology,” says Barney Dougher, president of HOYA Vision Care, NA. “Everyone in the optical business is tired of trying to explain what ‘better’ means to their patients. Now we can actually show them what better means with a near real life experience, that is the power of this augmented reality app.”
The key to the HVC Viewer is that it is a consumer benefits driven sales consultation. Spectacle lens wearers will be able to simply experience the difference in performance between various types of lenses in real life situations.
The HVC Viewer has five modules:
1. Progressive Lenses – Demonstrates the difference in performance across the range of progressive designs, shows how fields of view and distortion change, and adjusts the power and add to the patient’s prescription.
2. Single Vision Lenses – Demonstrates the difference between bi-aspherical, aspherical and standard designs, shows how different distortion levels may affect visual and binocular perception, as well as adjusts the sphere, cyl and axis for a more precise experience.
3. Indoor Lenses – Shows the difference between standard reading lenses compared to other premium indoor solutions in a variety of situations such as computer lenses to combat computer vision syndrome (CVS).
4. Anti-Reflective Treatments – Easily shows the increase in comfort derived from glare reduction, improved contrast and an increase in sharpness.
5. Polarized Lenses – Shows how polarization enhances comfort by increasing contrast and reducing glare.
“HOYA is working hard to make known both in the industry and to consumers directly the benefits of HOYA technology versus competing lens technologies,” notes Ron Barnes, director of Project Marketing for HOYA Vision Care, NA. “Together with Spectangle, the HVC Viewer gives independent ECPs the tools they need in order to demonstrate just how unique an experience the patient will receive when they are prescribed HOYA lenses. It is this type of technology that will ensure brand differentiation for independents when consumers are considering them, a big box or internet-based retailer.”
The HVC Viewer app is $119.99 and can be downloaded from an iPad via the Apple iTunes App store.
