Remember
Bokodes, MIT's tiny replacement for barcodes and the like? Their holographic nature enabled them to represent different information from different angles, and it's this property that allows the tech behind them to be used in a very different and even more useful way: figuring out just how busted your vision is. The Camera Culture team at MIT's Media Lab evolved that tech into a $2 box that refracts the image displayed on a smartphone screen. When combined with an app that displays a set of dots and lines, the user can manipulate the image until things look to be perfectly aligned. Once complete, the app spits out a prescription and you're just a quick trip to your local mall-based eyeglasses joint away from perfect vision. The goal is to make it easier for optometrists in developing countries to quickly and easily find glasses for people, but an app that could save a trip to the doctor's office is a wonderful thing regardless of where you are.
posted July 2nd 2010 3:19AM
Thats badass. Looks like i will keep an EYE outfor this one. (bad pun :/)
@DrFeelGood
ya i bet no one Saw this coming...
@DrFeelGood
Eye see what you did there.
God I hate myself even more than I usually do...
@DrFeelGood
Hell yeah, it's great to know that MIT is developing for android too now.
@okok only Apple Fanboys bought i
So... Care to comment on the article? Or were you just planning on trolling....
Looks like apple does not have an app for that :)
J/K, i dont really care lol
@NeatOman
Yeah but they have the "retina display"
@wickywills I've never really understood the "retina display" thing, surely that's like saying I liked mouth food or ear sound.
@Whiternoise
No,no its more like anal intercourse.
Seems pointless.
@JaZzo
You must be one of those people who can afford to buy a $600 POS phone without batting an eyelid or caring if it actually works. In that case this tech aint for you anyways.
@naashak
No, he's right. This is pointless... for consumers. What's the point of figuring out your own prescription if no store will accept it? And what's with making this an anti-Apple issue? What, you're not allowed to say it's pointless if you have an Android phone?
@tonicboy
With online stores your only required to know you prescription correct? In that case im all for it as it costs around 70$ to get my eyes tested.
@tonicboy
What places won't accept this? They usually require a physicians prescription for contacts (and for good reason), but most places will be more than happy to sell you glasses with whatever prescription you ask for.
Now THIS is worthy of being called an innovation, an invention. Bravo. Bravo!!!
Pure genuis! And for those who don't know....Ramesh Raskar is one of the guys who was responsible for inventing surface computing (the table was called DiamondTouch or something) at MERL - yup thats right, Microsoft didnt invent the surface computer (just like it didnt invent the technology behind Kinect/Project Natal).
@naashak
No one ever said they did.... it was always clearly spoken by Microsoft that they had licensed the technology for personal use and funded the development.
An EyePhone that actually makes calls (couldn't resist)
@sikclown LOL! and an eyePhone that actually helps calibrate your vision by detecting imperfections along the lens from your retina! Indeed!
@buoy
Shit just got real sciency in here.
@Robhimself Lmao, I was thinking the same thing
This is only useful for someone who's a doctor anyways, there's no way an end-user will buy this attachment...
@aliendude5300 you mean an optometrist.
@buoy An optometrist is a doctor
Ieye. Oh how I miss that troll
That's what I call a retina display. lol
Good work, I hope it benefits the third world countries in a big way.
Now it just needs to endorse my contact lens prescription... just sayin.
Now let us all watch as the optometrists gather and lobby their governments all over the world to ensure this technology is controlled by medically licensed individuals. So much for bringing higher living standards to the developing world.
@Engadget Fan 89 Why don't you try being part of the solution? This is a really great advancement one that serves humankind on so many levels. The Enviro Footprint is smaller, the tech more accesible and it has potential to help those in need. Good Job Dev's five stars.
As someone who has several optometrist friends, I hope that people with no skills DON'T use this to attempt eye diagnosis. optometrists also check for Glaucoma, Macular Degeneration and similar as well as testing for vision problems.
But for bringing eye tests to optometrists who cant afford the machines and equipment optometrists in Australia and elsewhere have, this is a GOOD thing.
But .. I'm Japanese :( .. I can't but squint all the time :(
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - I find mine a lot more pleasing to the eye and touch than my 3gs. But I may be getting influenced by the overall usability and how attractive that is to me, esp on froyo
Oh this is going to be a disaster. I am in my second year of Optometry school and I know how bad this is. The reason why is because it ONLY fixes your refraction! It fails to adjust your eye's accommodation and bilateral fixation.....TRUST ME....you will end up with MORE EXPENSIVE procedures in the future if you rely on this application...
wow very cool!
great does it work on Gilbert Gottfried?
@darok3k Or how about that dude from 3rd Rock from the Sun?
I wish I had their brains. Brains....Brains!!.....
In much of the US, eyeglass and contact prescriptions are regulated the same way as any prescription medication is. There must be a signed and dated prescription given by a doctor in order for lenses to be sold or created. Any retail outlet that ignores this is in violation of state law for most states. Not to mention, most optometrists offices have an auto-refractor that operates similarly in order to give the doctor a ball park starting point, and the results from that machine and the final prescription from the doctor are often significantly different. Not to mention, many online optical shops still contact your doctors office to confirm the prescription before manufacturing. There is extraordinarily little risk of this device being used to circumvent this process.