When Opti 2022 opens its doors next week, two key spotlights will be on sustainability and myopia management.
Taking place from 13-15 May at the Fairground Munich, Opti 2022 will offer visitors the complete optics spectrum from spectacle frames to spectacle lenses, contact lenses, refraction, diagnostics and low vision, right through to shop fittings and technical equipment.
Launched in 2008 with 18,000 trade visitors and nearly 360 exhibitors from 20 countries, January 2020 saw the last Opti before the pandemic. The show drew 605 exhibitors from 39 countries and nearly 26,000 visitors – representing a growth of 47 per cent for trade visitors, 69 per cent for exhibitors and 90 per cent for participating countries. Now, Opti is once more pursuing its internationalisation strategy.
Spectacle lenses that help to control and slow down myopia progression will be presented at the show, along with multifocal daily disposable contact lenses and orthokeratology night lenses. Artificial intelligence will also be discussed in relation to how it’s being more and more incorporated into optics. Using AI, automated multi-pathology retinal screening can now reliably detect age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Also high on the agenda will be sustainability. “Opti 2022 is a great opportunity for all of us not only to talk about sustainability, but also to show what we have achieved in that direction,” said Andrea Morosi, CEO of Danor, the Italian manufacturer of vegan sunglasses.
Sustainability via 3D printing and injection moulding using recycled material, and off-setting carbon footprint, will also be discussed as part of the burgeoning holistic ideology in industry as well as everyday optical practice.
“Since 2018, we have run our company on a climate-neutral basis; since 2020, we have asked our main suppliers about their supply chains, materials, pollutants and allergens, energy consumption and sources, quality standards and working conditions,” said Bernd Angst, owner of Optik Angst in Deisslingen, Baden-Württemberg.
Next year, Opti will return to January permanently and will be held in Munich from 27 to 29 January 2023.
Find out more about this year’s show here.