Rodenstock has made some significant statements about its new B.I.G Exact Sensitive lenses. The director of a Melbourne optometry practice thought he’d try them himself, to see if the marketing married up with the science. Here’s what he discovered.
Associate Professor Richard Vojlay doesn’t do ‘spin’.
During his many decades in the ophthalmic industry, the director of Collin & Kirk Optometrists in Thornbury, Melbourne, and university lecturer has seen his fair share of marketing.
But integrity is important, as well as the scientific rigour to back up what he sells to his patients in his practice.
So it’s a little ironic, and certainly insightful, that A/Prof Vojlay is so enthusiastic about the new Rodenstock lenses he now has in his practice.
That enthusiasm, however, is not based on marketing spin; it’s based on his personal use of the product.
When Insight speaks with A/Prof Vojlay he is reflecting on his first impressions from wearing B.I.G. Exact Sensitive lenses he received 12 hours earlier, the latest extension to Rodenstock’s premium lens tier.
And he’s more than a little surprised at how good they are.
“One of the things I realised today is that my reading is better than with my extended focus lenses, which shouldn’t happen,” he says. “That wasn’t in the PR campaign.
“If I don’t have my normal extended focus ones at work, I’m going to have a very grumpy day, and these are actually better. It’s amazing.”
The glasses were delivered at 7pm the previous day, so A/Prof put them on, grabbed his dog and headed out into the Melbourne night.
“The night vision was better,” he says. “I’m out there and the first thing I notice is that it just feels more seamless, less intrusive and I am looking around without thinking about my vision.”
It’s something he often talks about with his patients.
“It’s cognitive load, it’s how you process information.”
That processing can lead to some blurring and a disruption of a person’s visual flow, the significance of which is down to an individual’s visual sensitivity.
German lens manufacturer Rodenstock has established that this sensitivity is highly personalised and linked to the eyes’ biometry, which is why it established a Visual Sensitivity Index.
Using data from an extensive database of eyes scanned and analysed as part of its on-going research, plus AI and information about an individual’s eye taken using its DNEye Scanner, Rodenstock is able to produce an optical lens custom-designed to work for that person.
The latest advances in that technology are available in its B.I.G. EXACT Sensitive lens, which became available in Australia earlier in 2025 and can be offered in practices installed with Rodenstock’s DNEye device.
It builds on the company’s B.I.G. EXACT lens that incorporates more than 7,000 data points, allowing a biometric model of the eye to be ‘built’ and used to calculate the final lens. The new B.I.G. EXACT Sensitive goes further and is based on more than five years of research, the analysis of more than 500,000 eyescans, three complex wearer trials and a scientific eye-tracking study.
That’s a lot of science.
For A/Prof Vojlay and his many patients, what that means in practice is less blur and a more seamless, natural transition as they move between tasks near to them and at a distance.
He understands the impacts of that transition and the sometimes jarring disruption to visual flow.
“I get motion sickness and I had a pair of glasses for three years, and I’d move my head and feel a little bit of nausea.
“I can’t even find the swim effect on these Rodenstock lenses. So that was pretty impressive.”
The science and innovation behind the glasses are impressive as well.
A/Prof Vojlay has seen for himself the work that has gone on behind the scenes. He believes it’s something that optometrists and dispensers don’t always appreciate.
“I think with respect to all the companies, they’re all busting their boilers to give us good lenses,” he says.
“You look at some of the intellectual property behind this, the patents, what they’re doing and what they’re developing . . . they’re working hard to give us better quality products.”
That knowledge, plus his own experience with the lenses, gives him the confidence to offer a premium product to his patients.
Part of that will come down to a level of trust he has built up in the Thornbury community he works in.
“I need to be able to convince patients, in a short amount of time, to be able to say, look, this is useful, because I know it works.
“I know these guys and girls have done the hard work. They’ve done the hard yards to give you a quality product.”
He says some clients might be keen to understand the science, but most will be more focused on the benefits. Benefits that he can demonstrate personally.
“It’s about ‘look, these will make it easier for you to look around, it’ll be more natural, and you’ll feel more comfortable’.”
He believes the lenses are appropriate for all of his clients, and the small increase in price for what is a premium product is justified by their quality, the science behind them, and the benefits they bring.
For A/Prof Vojlay it’s a no-brainer.
“If it’s available to us to give patients better quality vision, why shouldn’t we?”
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