Job Spotlight

Games Programmer
Dependant on experience
UK - London

Games used to treat 'lazy eye'

Games used to treat 'lazy eye'

Special gaming goggles correct children's vision in 'ten days or less'

Researchers in Glasgow, Scotland have found a fun way to treat amblyopia in children.

By wearing special goggles while playing a tetris-like game for an hour a day, patients saw noticeable results in 'ten days or less', according to the BBC.

Amblyopia, or 'lazy eye', affects three percent of children under six, and if not treated, can cause severe vision problems later in life.

The condition does not effect the eye itself, but is caused when for some reason the brain simply does not respond well to signals from one eye.

In the past, this has been treated by placing a patch over the good eye, forcing the brain to use the image from the 'lazy' eye. Now, with the goggles, children can drop the eye patch, and get results while playing games.

Advertisement

The goggles work by displaying the image to the weak eye in clear focus, while the strong eye gets a weak, fuzzy picture. This, like the eye patch, forces the brain to adapt.

The difference?

Games are more fun than an eye-patch.

Lazy eye

posted by Mohammed Apr 06, 2012 at 6:02 pm
1
Mohammed

Would this work for a 13 year old? Or would it be considered too late?

And when can we expect this treatment to become available everywhere?

  • + 0 
  • - 0 
  • 0

Leave a Comment