Smartphone Vision Acuity Assessment for Updated Correction Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
In regions with limited eye care resources, determining the visual correction needs for individuals with impaired vision is challenging due to the lack of access to complex and costly apparatuses, leading to inadequate correction and discomfort.
Innovation Solution
A method using simple tools, potentially integrated into a smartphone, assesses the current vision acuity parameter and determines an updated or complementary visual correction need, allowing for the design of a new vision correcting device without requiring professional intervention or expensive equipment, enabling online ordering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If complex and costly apparatuses are used to determine visual correction needs, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a smartphone camera to capture images of a standardized chart, creating a visual copy that can be processed to determine vision correction needs. This replaces complex optical measurement apparatuses with a simple photographic copy system, achieving accurate measurement without requiring expensive equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical optical measurement systems with an image processing system. Instead of using complex optical instruments to directly measure vision, the system captures images and uses computational algorithms to analyze visual acuity and determine correction needs, substituting mechanical measurement with digital image analysis.
2Reliability
If professional eye care intervention is required for vision correction determination, then reliability is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables individuals to self-assess their vision correction needs by using the smartphone application. The system automatically captures images, processes them to determine visual acuity, and calculates required correction without requiring professional intervention. This maintains reliability through standardized algorithms while dramatically improving accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a smartphone application as an intermediary between the individual and the vision correction determination process. This intermediary system performs the professional assessment function that would otherwise require direct interaction with eye care professionals, making the service accessible to anyone with a smartphone.
3Ease of operation
If simple tools are used to determine visual correction needs, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameters of the measurement system by using digital image capture instead of optical measurement. The system captures images at specific distances and processes them through algorithms that convert image characteristics into vision acuity measurements. This parameter change enables simple operation while maintaining precision through computational analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy of the vision test chart through smartphone imaging and analyzes this copy to determine vision acuity. The copying process, combined with image processing algorithms, enables simple operation (just taking a photo) while achieving precise measurement through computational analysis of the captured image.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a method for determining an updated visual correction need for designing a new vision correcting device of an individual already having a previous vision correcting device previously designed to correct his/her vision, wherein, in a first step, a previous level of correction of the previous vision correcting device is acquired, in a second step, a current vision acuity parameter of the individual wearing the previous vision correcting device is assessed, and, in a third step, the updated visual correction need is determined based on the previous level of correction of the previous vision correcting device acquired in the first step and on the current vision acuity parameter assessed in the second step. A complementary visual correction need can also be determined.