As usual, some Japanese companies used the IOFT show in Tokyo last October to introduce some new technologies, initially on the domestic Japanese market. Not all of them will make their way to Europe or the USA, or at least not right away, partly because of the increasing sophistication needed in the laboratories to grind the lenses and to work with them otherwise.

Tokai presented the first 1.76-index progressive at the fair, offering it at a 30-40 percent premium over its more standard 1.70-index model for sale to the rising population of Japanese baby-boomers who have plenty of money to spend on superior products.

The company, which recently hired a specialist to develop its own in-house progressive designs, first launched a single-vision 1.76 lens last April, having solved the problem of tensile strength with a monomer sourced from one of Japan's two major suppliers, Mitsui or Mitsubishi. Presented also at SILMO by its European joint venture, Tokai Europe, the lens is being offered also in Europe. The Beglian-based company has its own laboratory, equipped with free-form technology, to service customers all over the continent. In the USA, where Tokai works directly with 15 new and old laboratories, the company is waiting for the approval of the Federal Drug Administration to introduce its 1.76-index lenses, as some of these labs seem to be interested in such a superior product.

For the Japanese market, Tokai has now added a 1.76 progressive lens where both sides are aspherical and surfaced with free-form technology, but it doesn't recommend the lens for piercing as it is still too brittle.

At the Tokyo show, Tokai also presented among other things for the first time a curved lens, aspheric on both sides, for application on frames with a base curve of 4, 5 or 6, but it will not be offered outside Japan. It comes in 1.60 and 1.70 material.

Using a diametrically different approach from Tokai, Hoya launched a cheaper version of its own line of progressive lenses at IOFT. Called FD for ?fusion,? it is about 25 percent cheaper than its well-known Hoya ID line of free-form lenses as it is surfaced only in the back side, using free-form technology supplied by DAC.

The new FD line is going to be available in Japan from Nov. 1 with indexes of 1.6 and 1.67, using materials supplied by Mitsui. It will be launched to the European trade early next year, with a presentation at Opti-München inJanuary.

No information was available at the Nikon-Essilor stand at the IOFT show or at Novisia's stand at SILMO about the possible availability in Europe of another new high-end lens technology for free-form progressives introduced by its Nikon component in Japan last May. Called ?Nikon Seeproud,? it makes use of complex computer algorimths that allow a higher degree of customization by adding the parameters of the frame and the possibility to vary the width of near-vision corridor.

The technology was described by Nikon technicians as going one step beyond an earlier free-form technology developed by the Japanese company, called ?Presio W? technology, which actually resembles the Varilux Physio wavelength technology introduced by Essilor worldwide earlier this year. It is being successfully marketed by Novisia in Europe since its introduction there last year.

Nikon first launched its first ?Presio W? lenses in Japan in May 2004, initially with an index of 1.67, and it has build up the line gradually, adding a 1.70-index lens in the Fall of 2004 and then a 1.74-index lens in 2005. The more sophisticated ?Seeproud? concept was launched by Nikon on the Japanese market with an index of 1.67, followed by the 1.74-index version on Sept. 15.

Interestingly, the Essilor component of Nikon-Essilor showed the Varilux Ipseo technology at the Tokyo fair, but it did not present there yet the Varilux Physio line, although Essilor executives in France say that it would be introduced in Japan before the end of this year.

Seiko, which has already made its mark with high-index lenses worldwide, presented a new organic coating at the Tokyo fair that it introduced in Japan last July. Called Orgatech and now available also in Europe, it comprises a unique organic anti-reflection layer that fits well with a new exclusive scratch-resistant layer to avoid lens cracks and scratches when the lens is exposed to very low or high temperatures.

Asahi-Lite used its presence at the Tokyo fair mainly to showcase the development work that it's conducting on a variety of programs including a 1.76-index lens and a simple new hard coating for polycarbonate lenses that minimizes aberrations. The company introduced a single-vision 1.74-index lens that is aspheric on both sides, but it doesn't use free-form technology yet.

Asahi-Lite made a video presentation of Zeiss' latest technologies at the Tokyo fair, but company officials admitted that they did not know whether they will continue to represent the German company in the future. Before its merger into Carl Zeiss Vision, SOLA International had already set up its own sales subsidiary in Japan.