Satisloh MC-380 Box Coater is one example of advances in AR coating

AR coatings help repel dirt and stains, as shown in this adhesion test, courtesy of Nanofilm

AR's Future
Industry execs weigh in on the practical and fanciful aspects of AR's future

The future will bring a revolution in AR processing equipment. Downsizing and multi-tasking will be vital so machinery will get smaller, operations more compact, and efficiencies more honed. To achieve this, lenses will be able to be surfaced and have AR applied all in one unit during one cycle. This will save time while allowing for efficiently produced, quality product, so AR turnaround will be faster while the AR itself will retain all its important properties. Time savings to the patient while retaining great performance will result in increased sales; AR will be a part of the vast majority of lenses sold.

Arman Bernardi, president/CEO, iCoat Company

Overseas has led the U.S. in AR for some time. In the next several years it will be a matter of taking the examples ahead of us and executing an effective AR strategy. Premium-based products will be the driver; however, there will be a variety of coating choices. This means the need to educate consumers on those choices will be crucial to AR usage and growth. Speed will be of the essence, and a rapid response will be required, including overnight delivery of a complete product including AR.

Larry Clarke, president/CEO, Satisloh North America, Inc.

The addition of anti-static, oleophobic, and super-hydrophobic properties to top coatings has answered the remaining objections to AR lenses. In the future, I don't think the industry should expect additional large leaps in quality and performance attributes, but instead small improvements in scratch resistance and ease of cleaning. New technologies will allow hard coatings, AR coatings, and easy-clean top coatings to be applied at the same time, all perfectly index-matched and complimentary in hardness. This will improve delivery speed and lower the cost of AR lenses. In addition, there's work going on to integrate the hard coating and AR coating process into the Rx surfacing process.

Mike Daley, president, Essilor Lenses

To grow the market, consumers need to know the benefits of AR, and ECPs need to understand how AR can help build their practices.

Edwin Ellefsen, president, Opticote, Inc.

It's only going to get better. Everyone will have high-tech, high-quality AR available, and as for the consumer, it's not one size fits all anymore. AR will become more specific with more levels, such as brighter or duller surfaces or blue hues to match blue eyes. There will be many small changes that will result in big differences. The product will become more tailored and be fabricated at one location with the entire pair of eyewear shipped to the doctor, all via the Internet. There will be continued advances in chemical vapor deposit technology and in surface applications, possibly leading to AR becoming part of the lens rather than a coating.

Jodi Groh, director of marketing, Nanofilm

Remember mood rings? How about a mood lens with AR that changed colors as your mood changed—although I'm sure that would make hiding a bad mood pretty tough. Or a coating that could change with the tap of a finger from polarized to a tint, to match fashion trends, leisure activities, or a task like golfing, surfing the Net, or night driving.

Bernadette Hiskey, Teflon^® brand director, Carl Zeiss Vision

To truly grow the AR market, we need to capture eyeglass wearers who have never worn and perhaps never heard of AR. By combining a highly impacting consumer message of clearer, crisper vision, a powerful consumer brand, and performance that delights, we are achieving growth that will one day make AR standard equipment.

Albert Miranda, VP Americas systems technology, Carl Zeiss Vision

A new technology could emerge in the next five years that would rival today's technology; something currently not on the radar. In 10 years, it's possible that coatings could change colors, lighten and darken, self clean, and be more scratch resistant. Imagine coatings as an integral part of the Rx itself, similar to the way a digital camera can digitally magnify an image.

Jim Misco, vice president marketing, Signet Armorlite, Inc.

More labs are going to take advantage of smaller equipment to put them in a position to provide AR to their accounts without sending them out to contract labs. AR technology will be in-line with labs' surfacing and polishing operations so they won't have to batch lenses for larger runs. They'll be able to coat individual lenses. Although chemical AR has not reached the level of perfection that consumers expect today, there may be room to believe that "AR in a can" may someday be a reality. Conservatively, in three to five years AR in the U.S. will be at 50 to 60 percent of all lenses sold. PALs that are already AR stand now in the 50 to 60 percent range; in less than three years, all PALs will have AR.

Clay Musslewhite, product marketing manager, Hoya Vision Care

The next wave of technological advances in AR lenses will be in matching lens substrates with the accompanying hard coatings and AR coatings—that is, substrate matching. Few companies have taken this technological step across a broad part of their AR offerings.

Eric Pecceu, director of AR coatings, Essilor

In the future, we hope that AR is recommended more regularly by both the optician and the optometrist. Our research studies have shown that 90 percent of patients who did not receive AR were never presented with it.

Gerry Shaw, president, Western Carolina Optical, Inc., and director of Nexus Vision

There will be more new AR equipment available from more manufacturers, including an automated unit that takes lenses from start to finish including AR. Edging technology will catch up. Processing technology will be faster and better. For example, hydrophobic lenses will be edged more easily and scratch resistance will get better. There will a cost drop for both wholesale and retail channels as AR becomes mainstream. In five years, AR will be at least 50 percent of all lenses sold; in 10 years, AR will be at least 80 percent.