Essilor Develops its Global Low Vision Offering with the Acquisition of Humanware

Essilor has announced the acquisition of a majority interest in the Canadian company Technologies Humanware, a world leader in electronic assistance products for the blind and vision impaired Founded in 1988 and based in Drummondville, Quebec, Humanware offers a wide array of equipment that is marketed mainly in visual rehabilitation clinic networks. The company recently launched Prodigi™, a two-in-one magnifier that helps the vision impaired whether they are sitting or moving about and which was awarded a Silmo d'Or gold medal at the Silmo international optics show in Paris in September. This configurable personal vision assistant combines a portable tablet and a touchscreen desktop device that automatically adapts text size and format to each user's vision. It also includes a text-to-speech feature.   Commenting on the partnership, Hubert Sagnières, Essilor Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: "Helping the vision impaired to gain greater autonomy is the natural extension of Essilor's mission of enabling more than 4.2 billion individuals to enjoy a better life through better sight. Thanks to the partnership with Humanware, Essilor has taken a major step in the development of its offering of high-performance, affordable and widely distributed equipment."   Essilor has been active in the field of low vision for several years. In cooperation with Institut de la Vision in Paris, Essilor has conducted research to better understand the aging of the visual system, which is at the heart of the vision-impairment debate.   Humanware's devices will extend the range of lens filters, magnifying glasses and other optical products and assistants that Essilor already sells to eyecare professionals. In the future, research teams from the two companies will combine their expertise in the area of portable optic and electronic solutions to design and develop new ergonomic, highly mobile equipment.   With 150 employees, Humanware markets its products throughout North America and in a number of European countries, as well as in Australia and certain parts of Asia. Generating revenue of around 35 million US dollars, the company will continue to be led by the current management team.