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Essilor, the world leader in ophthalmic optics, announced on October 3rd award-winning design consultancy, TEAMS Design, as winners of the See Change Challenge.
Launched in July 2016, the challenge called for innovative solutions to improve the lives of the 2.5 billion people who cannot see the world clearly by facilitating access to vision care. TEAMS Design developed an easy-to-use, low cost, scalable solution called “QuickCheck” that can enable primary vision care providers in underserved areas to screen and detect refractive errors.
Essilor and TEAMS Design will partner to pilot Quick Check in base of the pyramid populations in countries where Essilor has successfully established inclusive business models. The objective of the pilot is to create access to vision correction and protection, in particular in rural areas without conventional distribution channels.
“Wherever you live on this planet, everyone deserves access to vision correction and protection and innovation has always been central to driving our mission to improve lives by improving sight. The See Change Challenge has helped Essilor widen our field of exploration to ensure we meet the vision needs of the 7.4 billion people in the world” said Hubert Sagnières, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Essilor International.
Of the 4.6 billion people in the world who need vision correction, less than half actually correct their eyesight. Over 2.5 billion people still live with uncorrected poor vision, and its social and economic consequences. 90% of them live in developing countries where they might lack awareness of the impact of poor vision and access to basic vision care solutions. Tackling the issue of uncorrected poor vision among one third of the world’s population was Essilor’s motivation for launching the See Change Challenge.
“The desire to improve lives speaks to us as designers and engineers and it’s why the See Change Challenge appealed to TEAMS Design. Like most people I am sure, we were shocked when we heard the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 people cannot see the world clearly but the shock soon turned to excitement that TEAMS Design could help do something about it” commented Paul Hatch, CEO of TEAMS Design in Chicago. “The end result of our efforts is simple to use, affordable device not dependent on technology. We very much look forward to seeing QuickCheck put into practice in the field.”
The See Change Challenge illustrates Essilor’s commitment to continually push the boundaries of innovation in order to provide better solutions for all consumers’ vision needs, whatever their geography or income. A pioneer with 170 years of history in ophthalmic optics, Essilor has spearheaded major advances in its sector and has ranked among Forbes’ 100 Most Innovative Companies for the past seven years. For more information on Essilor’s initiatives to improve vision care access for the 2.5 billion uncorrected people worldwide, go to www.essilorseechange.com
About Essilor
The world’s leading ophthalmic optics company, Essilor designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of lenses to improve and protect eyesight. Its mission is to improve lives by improving sight. To support this mission, Essilor allocates more than €200 million to research and innovation every year, in a commitment to continuously bring new, more effective products to market. Its flagship brands are Varilux®, Crizal®, Transitions®, EyezenTM, Xperio® ,Foster Grant® ,BolonTM and Costa®.It also develops and markets equipment, instruments and services for eyecare professionals.
Essilor reported consolidated revenue of more than €7.1 billion in 2016 and employs 64,000 people worldwide. It markets its products in more than 100 countries and has 33 plants, 490 prescription laboratories and edging facilities, as well as 5 research and development centers around the world (as of December 31, 2016).
For more information, please visit www.essilor.com. The Essilor share trades on the Euronext Paris market and is included in the Euro Stoxx 50 and CAC 40 indices. Codes and symbols: ISIN: FR0000121667; Reuters: ESSI.PA; Bloomberg: EI:FP.
About TEAMS Design
TEAMS Design is a global industrial design and user experience firm specializing in product strategy. TEAMS Design has five branches around the world and has been awarded over 1000 Design awards. They are known for designing entire product lines, creating game-changing concepts, product strategies and Visual Brand Languages in local and international markets. For more info please visit www.teamsdesign.com.
CONTACTS
ESSILOR: Lauren Wyper | Essilor Mission Communications | Tel.: +65 65 89 93 56 | lauren.wyper[AT]essilor.com
TEAMS DESIGN: Paul Hatch | TEAMS Design USA | Tel.: +1 312 733 5063 | infoCH[AT]teamsdesign.com
Compliments of Essilor International, a member of the EACCNY