A close look at myopia

Eye-tracking glasses
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A close look at myopia

Myopia is a worldwide phenomenon, and the number of people affected is steadily increasing. The “myopia boom” is increasingly affecting young people, especially in Southeast Asia. But the situation is also grim in other parts of the world – reason enough to intensify research in this area.

Published on 17/03/2022

Text by Michael Mildner, Photos by Jan Räber
Roman Schmied and Vanessa Leung.

The FreeNovation research platform was created by Novartis in 2016 to allow young scientists to pursue innovative ideas that no one else would dare to implement. Such start-up-like platforms are becoming increasingly important, as traditional research approaches do not provide sufficient breeding ground for revolutionary approaches.
In the picture: Roman Schmied und Vanessa Leung

Research on the sensor-studded glasses requires a lot of hard work and painstaking precision. Vanessa Leung and Roman Schmied have developed a unique device that could shed light on the causes of the myopia boom.

Vanessa Leung and Roman Schmied have developed a unique device that could shed light on the causes of the myopia crisis. In a pilot study, they found that it could measure most parameters, such as luminous intensity, pupil size and blink rate, with acceptable accuracy.

The smart glasses track a person’s eye movements as well as the ambient light. The collected data can be securely transferred to a computer or hand-held device, where they are analyzed by an intelligent software.

In action, the collected data from the smart glasses is transmitted to a computer or handheld device, where it is analyzed by powerful software. “Thanks to FreeNovation, we were able to work in an important medical field that affects us personally and millions of other people at the same time,” Schmied sums up.

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