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Optical Lenses

On February 8, 1995, Incomnet acquired 51% of privately-held Fast Cast, Inc.(East Rockaway, NY), a development stage company with a proprietary technology that allows most commonly-prescribed eyeglass lenses to be produced in a retail eyeglass store or in an laboratory at a cost well below the cost of existing lens-producing technologies.

The lens producing system is called the FastCast LenSystem is capable of producing single vision, flat-top bifocal and multifocal progressive lenses on demand, and in minutes. With the system, all lenses will cost the same, regardless of the type of lens produced, which is in contrast to conventional processes in which manufacturing flat-top or progressive bifocal lenses is considerably more expensive than making single vision lenses.

Rapid Cast markets the FastCast LenSystem through its own sales and marketing team in the United States. Internationally, Rapid Cast markets through distributors in countries that include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

In 1996, Rapid Cast plans to increase its production capacity significantly and to continue improving the technology by expanding the range of prescription lenses that can be produced. It also expects to further its research and development efforts.

The FastCast LenSystem uses a series of high-accuracy prescription glass molds that are filled with a proprietary liquid monomer (plastic). When exposed to ultraviolet light within the system's curing chamber, the monomer undergoes a chemical reaction that rapidly "cures" or hardens the lens in minutes. The result is an ophthalmic lens of the highest quality. The system has the ability to produce eight pair of lenses per hour.

The FastCast LenSystem will allow any optical dispensing location to compete with most "optical superstores" and provide one-hour service without the capital requirement of conventional grinding equipment. With more than 30,000 optical dispensing locations in the U.S. alone, we believe that there is a substantial market for Rapid Cast's technology in both the domestic U.S. and in markets worldwide. In 1995, Rapid Cast's technology began proving itself in the market. In 1996, we expect this process to continue while Rapid Cast ramps up capacity to meet the substantial demand expected in the future.

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