Essilor launches online game training tool

NEW YORK — Essilor announced the rollout of a new online training tool, Serious Game, to hone eye care practitioners' skills in recommending lenses based on patients' interests, needs and lifestyles at a press conference here at Vision Expo East.

"Essilor has found that patients have a higher response rate and greater perception of product value when ECPs make recommendations on their individual needs," Carl Bracy, senior vice president of marketing and new business, said in a company press release. "Serious Game training develops ECPs' skills to identify consumer needs based on a series of true-to-life scenarios that are applicable in the dispensary environment."

The game introduces six animated characters who respond to questions and recommendations made by eye care practitioners. Players are scored based on their abilities to recognize a patient's issue and recommend proper products for them, and players receive relevant feedback based on their performance.

Essilor also announced that it has created an eye-sun protection factor (E-SPF) evaluation system for sun lenses to increase consumer awareness of the damage UV rays can do to eyes not adequately protected.

"The new E-SPF system will improve consumer knowledge about the need for visual health protection from the invisible and often irreversible dangers of UV light," Mr. Bracy said.

The evaluation system, much like SPF systems rate skin care and sunscreen products, will provide an objective index for eye wear, certifying the global UV protections a lens is capable of providing. Values currently vary from 2 to 25 for clear lenses, with up to a "50+" rating for tinted and polarized sun lenses.