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magidA start-up, Eyenetra, asked for volunteers to have eyes tested Friday at the Asylum. I was curious, so I took the test.
It turned out to be a prototype finished that morning, sort of a souped-up Viewfinder sort of gizmo, maybe the size of a curved box for binoculars, though I know the ultimate idea is to get it working using smart phones. I put my elbows on the desk, holding the thing in front of my face. I could slide the part closest to me right or left, and there was a mouse-wheel by the right hand hold, plus a dial on the other side for the test-giver to move.
The test itself was easy. I shifted the front part right or left until I could see two lines (well, line segments), one red, one green. (I asked about people with color-blindness, and while I don't know how they deal with it, exactly, I know it's been considered.) They could be in any orientation, but would be parallel or the same line. All I had to do each time was use the mouse wheel to move the lines until they coincided. Once I did, I told the tester, and a new pair of lines would appear, sometimes after the tester moved the dial on his side. Sometimes I had to tilt the thing to find the lines, as well as shifting right-left, but it was always easy to find them, and it went quickly. Interestingly, the background was a sort of four-sided blue lava lamp effect.
It took maybe a quarter of an hour, including the tester's instructions, and at the end, he had a prescription for me. I have no idea how the science works, but it felt much less subjective than some traditional tests ("Does it look better this way or this way?"), and less prone to accidental memorization of the charts. Also, it felt like I was more in control of the exam, which was very cool. Obviously, not a replacement for an exam for other medical eye issues, but it could be awesome to get a measurement of eye change from 20/20 anywhere.
It turned out to be a prototype finished that morning, sort of a souped-up Viewfinder sort of gizmo, maybe the size of a curved box for binoculars, though I know the ultimate idea is to get it working using smart phones. I put my elbows on the desk, holding the thing in front of my face. I could slide the part closest to me right or left, and there was a mouse-wheel by the right hand hold, plus a dial on the other side for the test-giver to move.
The test itself was easy. I shifted the front part right or left until I could see two lines (well, line segments), one red, one green. (I asked about people with color-blindness, and while I don't know how they deal with it, exactly, I know it's been considered.) They could be in any orientation, but would be parallel or the same line. All I had to do each time was use the mouse wheel to move the lines until they coincided. Once I did, I told the tester, and a new pair of lines would appear, sometimes after the tester moved the dial on his side. Sometimes I had to tilt the thing to find the lines, as well as shifting right-left, but it was always easy to find them, and it went quickly. Interestingly, the background was a sort of four-sided blue lava lamp effect.
It took maybe a quarter of an hour, including the tester's instructions, and at the end, he had a prescription for me. I have no idea how the science works, but it felt much less subjective than some traditional tests ("Does it look better this way or this way?"), and less prone to accidental memorization of the charts. Also, it felt like I was more in control of the exam, which was very cool. Obviously, not a replacement for an exam for other medical eye issues, but it could be awesome to get a measurement of eye change from 20/20 anywhere.