New tech allows mobile-based eye tests

US ophthalmology technology firm EyeQue has launched VisionCheck, which it says is the world’s first automated optical device allowing consumers to measure and track their refractive error and order glasses with the results.

VisionCheck is based on technology developed at MIT and combines a cloud-based platform and a smartphone app with a motorised optical scope.

The company says the result is a low-cost, user friendly piece of tech that allows people to gather corrective vision measurements whenever and wherever they choose.

The scope attaches to a consumer’s smartphone screen and uses Bluetooth to send data to the phone.

VisionCheck measures refraction error of each eye and produces results in the form of EyeGlass Numbers, a standard scale showing the lens power needed to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.

The smartphone attachment contains three precision optical lenses that automatically rotate internally using a high precision motor, capturing each meridian of the eye, measuring focus and astigmatism.

EyeQue has an exclusive licence for its mobile refraction measurement technology, which is based on an MIT patent employing the Inverse Shack Hartmann optical method.

Once a consumer completes a series of eye tests, results are instantly processed via EyeQue Cloud through algorithms and appear in the form of EyeGlass Numbers with spherical, cylindrical, and axis figures – the same values an ophthalmologist uses to issue a prescription.

Consumers can use these results to order eyeglasses through online retailers from the convenience of home – saving time and money both in terms of taking a test and obtaining their new glasses.

It has already been named as a CES Innovation Awards honoree in the Technology for a Better World category.

The optical scope contains a rechargeable battery, a Bluetooth control interface and a sophisticated touch mechanism.

The smartphone application is free to download and includes a uniquely accurate digital pupillary distance (PD) tool enabling the user to gather their PD, a measure required to order eyeglasses.

EyeQue hopes that a kickstarter campaign will encourage people to take pre-orders, as well as allowing it to gather product feedback, and reward early adopters of its technology.