Product: Costa’s 580 Rx sun lenses
Top Line: Costa sunglasses will announce this week at International Vision Expo that its premium polarized 580 technology will now be available in a Rx sun lens format. While Costa has offered Rx sun lenses in its polarized 400 technology since 2002, until now, Costa’s clearest lens, the 580 lens, was only available in plano options. Costa 580 lens technology blocks yellow light at 580 nanometers on the light spectrum, resulting in “visual clarity, the highest levels of polarization efficiency and razor sharp color enhancement,” according to Costa.
Close Up: Costa’s 580P Rx sun lenses feature C-Wall, a highly specialized, oleophobic and hydrophobic coating to make it as virtually scratch resistant as glass, while repelling water, oil and dust. Other Costa Rx sun lens program options include Costa’s 580G Rx in glass, and Costa’s 400 Rx hard resin lens technology. The 580 Rx sun lens program will use Costa’s proprietary Trivex material, and proprietary Glass material, in gray or copper, and blue, green or silver mirror lens colors.
Vital Stats: ECPs will be able to contact Costa directly by sending a fax to (855) 267-8280 or by email at costarx@costadelmar.com to place their Costa prescription order. ECPs can also call 855-COSTARX (855-267-8279) for more information about the Costa 580 Rx sun lens program.
This change will provide more quality assurance for ECPs dispensing Costa frames and Rx sun lenses, and allow Costa to more closely monitor Rx orders of its premium polarized sunglasses. Costa will have licensed optical staff onsite to assess every Rx order before it is hand-assembled into the frame and sent to the ECP to dispense.
www.costadelmar.com

Product: Computer Vision Flip-Up Clip Demo Kit
Top Line: At International Vision Expo this week, eClips is launching a computer vision demo kit that features premium removable flip up clips that can be easily mounted on to a patient's progressive Rx to demonstrate the benefits of having proper intermediate correction in the upper viewing area. "When consumers can experience good computer vision first-hand and recognize the dramatically improved physical and visual comfort, it translates into increased sales of computer lenses and computer clips, and happier and more productive consumers," said David Salk, CEO of eClips.
Close Up: The kit consists of four clips (usually +1 power) and a sample frame to show how custom fitted clips look.
Vital Stats: Custom computer clips can be made for any frame using flip (for zyl) or e3 (for all frames).
www.clipon.com

Product: Hoya Vision Care is taking video technology to a new medium in the Internet optical space by introducing Professor Murray, an online electronic personality and spokesperson to educate and entertain eye care professionals and consumers alike.
Top Line: Professor Murray demonstrates Hoya’s lens and treatment advancements in a 3D environment, incorporating animation and messaging that demonstrates the best technology on the market in a fun, yet understandable format. “Eye care professionals are looking for ways to present Hoya’s free-form design technology to prospective patients – not only the superiority in Hoya lens design and manufacturing, but also the results or benefits a patient will achieve through the investment in their vision. Patients already get the ‘wow’ when their Hoya lenses are dispensed, now we’ll achieve the ‘aha’ during the purchasing decision,” said Ron Barnes, director of project marketing for Hoya Vision Care.
Close Up: The Professor Murray animation will be supported by actual video demonstrations patients will easily relate to and understand. Subsequent videos will also introduce a 3D professional female OD to complement the Murray character.
Vital Stats: There will be a large social media component for Professor Murray. Professor Murray and colleague will dominate all electronic media through dedicated Facebook pages and YouTube Channel, blogs, waiting room videos and the ability to embed the videos on ECP sites.
www.hoyavision.com

Product: Crizal website
Top Line: In line with the March 7th launch of Essilor’s Crizal national advertising campaign, the company relaunched its Crizal website. The website has been updated with Essilor’s Crizal portfolio, and is more user-friendly and easier to navigate.
Close Up: The site offers resources for consumers plus an "ECP Resources" tab that provides eyecare professionals with more technical descriptions and information about Crizal products. On the homepage, visitors can click to watch the new Crizal TV commercial, use the ECP locator tool and purchase cleaning cloths.
Vital Stats: A revamped “Crizal Lenses” tab features patient-friendly language, connecting patients' lifestyle and visual needs with Crizal products. Patients can learn which Crizal lens is right for them.
www.CrizalUSA.com

Product: VisionWeb’s new spectacle lens ordering feature.
Top Line: VisionWeb’s new spectacle lens ordering feature enables users to save an order that has been partially completed for editing and submission at a later date. Previously, orders could only be saved to the pending orders cart after all of the order information had been entered. Now, orders can be saved to pending once only the patient prescription, lab, and lens information has been entered; all other information can be entered at the users’ convenience. Users can access the incomplete order to edit and send at any time. This new feature improves the functionality of the ordering service, making ordering on VisionWeb even more user-friendly and convenient.
Close Up: In addition to being able to save an order for a specific patient to edit and send later, this new feature also allows users to create templates of their favorite jobs, which will save time when ordering popular Rx/Lab/Job Type combinations. Once a favorite job template is saved to the pending orders cart, it can be reused and sent to the lab as a new order with a unique order number, and the original template will remain on file for future use. Templates of favorite jobs can be used as the basis for new orders, over and over. VisionWeb users can begin using the new feature immediately from the “Rx Orders” section of the VisionWeb site, located inside login. Once an order is saved to the “Pending Orders” cart, users can access the order in the “Order Tracking” section of the site.
Vital Stats: An online tutorial of how to use the new feature is available on VisionWeb’s YouTube page and more information will be posted via VisionWeb’s social media networks. Visit VisionWeb on Facebook and Twitter to learn more.
Contact VisionWeb Customer Service at (800) 874-6601 or e-mail them for questions about the new feature.
www.visionweb.com