Three Exciting Ways Augmented and Virtual Reality Can Help You Look After Your Kids' Eyes

Nowadays, parents have more reason to prioritize their kids’ eye health than ever before. Myopia rates are soaring in kids due to excess screen time, which is why experts now expect 40% of the world’s population to be nearsighted by 2050. Since this condition can worsen through childhood and progress into high myopia, it can put kids at a higher risk of developing more serious issues like retinal detachment, glaucoma, and even blindness as adults.

However, that’s not the only issue you need to look out for in your kids. Some common pediatric eye conditions include amblyopia (lazy eye), binocular vision dysfunction (eye misalignment), and other refractive errors—like hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism (blurred vision). To keep on top of their eye health, it’s thus crucial to follow best practices like regularly getting their eyes tested, having them wear corrective eyeglasses, and ensuring they eat a balanced and nutritious diet. 

Now that we’re in the digital age, though, why not boost your efforts with emerging technologies like augmented (AR) and virtual (VR) reality? We’ve previously listed their use as a major eLearning trend for their educational benefits. Because these technologies immerse kids in digital environments, they can more effectively engage them and foster meaningful interactions with learning materials. 

However, AR and VR can go even further with some exciting applications in eye health. Here are three of the latest ones and how they can help you look after your kids’ eyes.

Better eyewear choices 

Do your kids need to wear prescription glasses? One challenge you may be familiar with is getting them to wear their specs as often as possible, especially since they can carry negative connotations in school settings. That’s why it’s important to get their feedback before you buy them a particular pair of frames—and even then, their short attention spans or disinterest in shopping for accessories like eyewear can make it harder to get them to try on glasses at all. 

Today, you can use an AI-powered virtual glasses try on tool to overcome that challenge. The Virtual Mirror on Glasses.com can easily engage your kids by showing them realistic depictions of how various eyewear frames will look on them—all you need to do is give them a smartphone or laptop camera, position them in a well-lit area, and let them run wild with various styles! From here, you can easily save their favorites for future reference. This particular AR application won’t just get your kids more involved and invested in their new prescription glasses—it can also help you find the most comfortable fit for their face, even if you’re buying their specs from home. 

More accurate diagnoses

Unfortunately, issues such as amblyopia and binocular vision dysfunction share many of the same symptoms as the likes of myopia, including fatigue, headaches, and difficulty reading. As such, it’s vital that, for your kids’ regular eye exams, you consult an eye care professional who has the means and knowledge necessary to make the correct diagnoses and ensure treatment can commence as soon as possible. 

With the growing adoption of AR- and VR-powered smart glasses, finding the best optometrist or ophthalmologist for the job is becoming easier than ever. That’s because many now use these specs for their eye-tracking technology. Using cameras and infrared light, smart glasses can track a user’s eye movements. This capability typically helps them track where wearers are looking, which is helpful for navigating menus and adjusting the visual elements on digital displays. Now, however, eye care experts find that this feature can further be utilized to diagnose vision problems like amblyopia and binocular vision dysfunction, which are characterized by difficulties visually tracking moving objects. As more professionals add these tools to their arsenals, they’ll be able to more quickly, easily, and accurately detect eye conditions in your kids so they can get the best care possible. That’s especially true given the following application: 

Enhanced eye treatments 

Though prescription glasses can address blurred vision, uncoordinated eyes need further treatment to correct misalignments and restore full functionality. One thing an optometrist or ophthalmologist may recommend for your kids is eye therapy. Here, they’ll undergo multiple sessions where they do various eye exercises with the goal of completely eliminating conditions like amblyopia over the course of a few months. Once your kids’ eye therapist adds VR to the mix, though, they can completely and effectively streamline that process. 

That’s because real-world data now confirms that virtual lazy eye therapy can successfully improve visual acuity in kids with amblyopia. When used on VR headsets, Luminopia’s proprietary therapeutic software doesn’t “punish” the stronger eye to give the weaker one more practice, like traditional eye therapy does. Instead, it uses immersive VR environments inspired by popular children’s TV shows to train them to work together over time and encourage the brain to accept input from both eyes. As a result, studies find that the tool can improve visual acuity by up to 1.7 lines on a Snellen chart (the letter-filled aid found in most eye clinics) in just 12 weeks, and kids who try VR eye therapy are 83% more likely to follow treatment plans to completion. Considering such innovative remedies for your own kids can help you more effectively look after their eyes and keep them healthy!