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The team at the MIT Camera Culture Lab have developed a portable and inexpensive solution for estimating refractive errors of human eye. Some common errors of the eye, including nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and age-related vision loss can be diagnosed using this affordable technology which until now was possible using specialized equipment operated by a trained professional. An Indian postgraduate student and an Indian associate professors were in the team who conceived this innovative and affordable optometry solution.
Source: http://web.media.mit.edu/~pamplona/NETRA/
The new technology called NETRA (Near-Eye Tool for Refractive Assessment) uses a special device and software on mobile phone to diagnose eye prescription. The cost of special plastic device is around $1-$2 now which is believed to come down to few cents once it goes into mass production. This is a major technological breakthrough especially for people living in rural areas of developing countries like India where basic eye clinics are still distant away. Please watch the following videos to know more about it.