August 10, 2016 10 years of opti – 10 years of innovation. On January 11th 2008, the new era of opti began with GHM Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen mbH as the organiser of the trade show. For the 10th anniversary of the event in 2017, it is time to look at the products which made their debut and had their breakthrough in Munich…
The next trade show will be the anniversary edition and will take place from Saturday 28th to Monday 30th of January 2017. This opti biography will take a look at the “Stars & Trends”.
205,194 trade visitors and 4,212 exhibitors later, it is time to look at the ground-breaking products of the last 10 years. The range stretches from the classic and the curious to creative bestsellers. Ultimately, all of these show pieces, which stand for all of the numerous other opti debuts, catapulted opti into the top league of the optical market. They helped to build the reputation that opti currently enjoys: the top trade show for optometry at the start of the year.
Rolf Spectacles should not be missed out of the 10-year gallery of trends in the Frames Area. In 2009, they displayed the prototypes of their wooden glasses in the opti box and first stepped into the limelight of the world of optometry. The Tyrolean company started a bona fide revolution of wooden glasses with their appearance in Munich.
Likewise, the Finnish company Kraa Kraa caused a stir by using another special material. They used opti 2015 to celebrate their cork glasses being ready to go into production. 2010 was all about vintage frames. Meanwhile, optometrists Gerald Lasnik and his son Martin can celebrate several awards, such as the “red dot design award” for their “seeoo” glasses. The two masters of optometry used opti to present their new interpretation of the pince-nez to the world for the first time.
As for lenses, in 2016 Carl Zeiss Vision GmbH ushered in a new dimension of lens technology. In Munich, optometrists could glean a first look at the new “DriveSafe” glasses lenses developed for poor visibility when driving. In 2013, Ophthalmica Brillengläser GmbH & Co. KG showed another innovation not seen at any trade show previously: customised lenses for golfers and fishermen, amongst others. In 2011, new underwater vision was made possible in Munich with the successful introduction of the individually vitrifiable swimming goggles “shoptic Ocean” by Breitfeld & Schliekert GmbH.
Optometrists now have the opportunity to offer yet more variety of lenses from photochromic to contrast-enhancing lenses with very high dioptre. opti is also the perfect stage for the launch of contact lenses. From the first trade show organised by GHM Gesellschaft für Handwerksmessen mbH, a new era had begun for contact lens wearers. The company CooperVision GmbH introduced their new daily contact lenses to the market in 2008.
Time and again, visitors to the trade show can see companies that are ahead of their time in the Technology Area. This is how trade visitors to opti 2014 came to meet the technology of the future for the first time: a 3D printer and the new generation of glasses. The start-up company FrameLApp debuted their idea to print glasses made to order and showed how resource efficient working with 3D technology is because it does not produce waste. Equally efficient with resources is the “Greenday” start-up for shop fittings. In January 2012, their new shop fitting concept was the topic of many conversations. During the planning, design and building of new shops, the company is committed to sustainability of raw materials and energy.
More information: www.opti.de