At Vision Expo East this weekend, Carl Zeiss Vision Inc. (ZEISS) presented an updated version of its SmartLife Young lenses for pediatric patients—designed to take into consideration a child’s age, anatomy, lifestyle, and visual needs.
Background first, please.
Digital device usage has become a standard for most individuals, with children experiencing a significant increase in recent years—resulting in adverse effects on their vision.
Case in point: Pediatric patients exposed to digital screens before age 3 have been found more likely to have developed myopia by preschool age than children not exposed; further, research continues to support a link between screen time and myopia development in both children and teenagers.
Enter … ZEISS?
Yup. The SMARTLIFE lens portfolio includes four different products (with three lens types:
- SMARTLIFE Young lenses (our topic of choice here)
- SMARTLIFE Single-Vision lenses
- SMARTLIFE Progressive lenses
- SMARTLIFE Digital lenses
Let’s focus on the SMARTLIFE Young lenses.
Designed specifically for pediatric patients (aged 6 to 19) with nearsighted or farsightedness, the SmartLife Young lenses are intended to offer better optical performances than other lenses primarily designed with adult wearers in mind.
How is this done?
Per ZEISS, by using proprietary technology:
- ZEISS SmartView 2.0 technology
- Matches a child’s lenses to their age-related visual needs
- Dynamic AgeFit technology
- Adapts the lens design to their smaller faces and frames using position-of-wear data to incorporate a child’s changing anatomy into the lens calculation
- ZEISS Luminance Design technology
- Takes into account the increase in pupil diameter from ages 6 to 19
- Smart Dynamic Optics
- Guarantee the glasses fit the child’s dynamic visual behavior
And the result?
Constructed as a thin and light material, the lenses offer up to 60% wider fields of clear vision for children’s smartphone distances when compared to single-vision stock lenses, according to ZEISS.
Give me some features.
The lenses offer full ultraviolet (UV) protection; optional blue light protection (via the ZEISS BlueGuard) or PhotoFusion (which provides sunglasses and eyeglasses in one lens) is also available.
Go on …
The lenses are marketed as being three times more scratch-resistant due to the company’s DuraVision anti-reflective (AR) coating, which enables more light to enter the eye and—as a result—creates clearer vision and reduced ocular stress and eye strain.
Lastly, where can I see these updated glasses for myself?
ZEISS is on-site at Vision Expo East this weekend, so stop by stand #F2301A in the Exhibit Hall.
See here for more Vision Expo East coverage.
Vision Expo East is being held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, New York, from March 14-17, 2024.