Glasses Off

The Science

Our vision is limited by main two factors a) the quality of the image captured by our eyes, and b) the image processing abilities of our brain to interpret the image coming from the eyes. People with visual problems can correct their vision by attempting to correct the quality of images captured by their eye (wearing glasses, going through corrective eye surgery), or enhance their brain’s image processing abilities.

Some people are born with superior image processing skills, and therefore they have an ability to “see” patterns that most do not. You probably recall the vision exercises you went through as a child: What is it that you see? 4 Packmans or a white square? While your eyes capture the images, your brain determines what is that you actually look at.

The vision improvement market has produced several solutions over the years that had no scientific basis nor orderly clinical studies to demonstrate the potential. However real academic research into this area during the last 20 years have yielded a real breakthrough, and is called “perceptual learning”. Perceptual learning is the science which attempts to improve visual skills by improving image processing in the brain. There are several great successes in the area of perceptual learning, including FDA-approved solutions for visual problems such as amblyopia, loss of vision resulting from a stroke, and others.

How does this work?
The image is transferred from the eye to the brain as "pixels". Neural processing in the brain integrates these “pixels” from different neurons located at neighboring brain locations. Visual neurons are highly specialized and optimized as image analyzers, and as a result, visual processing involves the cooperative activity of many neurons, with neuronal interactions contributing input to interpret an image. This visual integration is not instantaneous, and takes time. As we age, our near vision deteriorates because our eyes can’t focus enough the way they used to, and the image sent to be processed in the visual cortex is blurred. Thus, the processing is slow and very difficult, resulting in a blurred image.

This situation can be corrected by either

wearing reading glasses, which work like a magnifying glass, making it easier for the neurons to bypass the blurry small fonts, or
enhance the speed and quality of processing in the brain, overcoming the blurry images by sheer processing power.

Perceptual learning enables enhancement of the processing speed. Academic research supporting the science has been published in the most prestigious academic journals, including Nature, PNAS, Vision Research and others. Dr. Uri Polat, the founder of GlassesOff^®, is a world-leading researcher in the area of perceptual learning.

What Is Presbyopia

Presbyopia, also known as “short-arm syndrome”, is an age-related visual impairment leading to a decrease in clarity of near vision. It results from the gradual decrease in the flexibility of the focusing power of the eye (accommodation) expected with age, and can have multiple effects on quality of near vision and quality of life. It is a normal physiologic condition that affects all people, beginning at the age of 40.

See supporting publications in Scientific Conventions

30th Annual Meeting of the Israel Society for Vision & Eye Research

Improving vision in presbyopia

The Association of Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual meeting 2010

Enhancing Processing Speed Improves Visual Functions In Presbyopia

Latest Publications

Click Here for Dr. Polat’s list of publications