“Thanks to artificial intelligence now the glasses adapt to you and not the other way around”

Artificial intelligence has become one of the most innovative technologies of the last decades. The impact it is having in Spain and in many other countries is notorious, from the workplace to school and personal.

There are many who warn of the dangers of this type of technology, especially since when it is a generative AI, it can have hallucinations and make mistakes, but there are others Many even more interesting uses where the effect is purely positive.

One of them is the one we see in the field of medicinewhere artificial intelligence is helping to create new medications and to improve health -related processes.

This is what we have gone to one of the multiptic centers, which has developed A new technology capable of using artificial intelligence and virtual reality in the process of creating progressive glasses latest generation.

To understand the new applications we have spoken with José Antonio Mora, an optometrist with decades of experience which explained to us the change of paradigm that can involve the use of this technology.

We have seen how AI improves from the speed of adaptation to product quality or customization. To do this, we have undergone the tests that would be performed on any other patient.

In progressive lenses

The first application of artificial intelligence in a commercial product by multipticas has occurred in one of the types of glasses most demanded from a certain age, progressive ones, because patients need help both to focus long, medium and short distance.

The new test carried out by the company is carried out through a virtual reality helmet and an application that, for a few minutes, analyzes the way of looking at the patient.

As José Antonio indicates, “until a few years ago the most advanced progressive lens was the one that had broader vision areas, but with this device we can analyze how each person looks. There are some that move their eyes, others the head … This Create a vision pattern that is synthesized in an algorithm that we can give to the manufacturer to create the glasses in a certain way. “

At that time we put the virtual reality glasses, Without taking off our own glasses, since we were not calibrating the vision but the way of looking, and we performed a test that consisted of pursuing with the look a small drone that moved, approached and moved away. Just before we had another experience in an elevator that served simply to acclimatize the patient.

This is because it is normal for many of the people who wear this method have never used virtual reality glasses. It is curious how sometimes we moved our eyes, in others the head and in many others.

José Antonio remarked us that “There is no good and bad way to test. The important thing is that it be done in a natural way, Since the system will detect the way we look and then it will capture it in vision maps, similar to the heat maps of other technologies. “

The effectiveness of this technology is demonstrated Because sometimes “the same tests have been performed on other patients months later and vision maps remain practically identical, which indicates that the way of looking does not change and that the glasses created for this way of see will serve a long time.”

In multipticas they also sometimes use AI to measure diopterswith devices that analyze the current glasses of the patients and with data such as the profession, the age and others, create the questions that the doctors should ask the patients.

This helps to specify the real needs of each patient, by supervision by the optometrists.

More customization

The key to this technology is that Allows you to adapt the glasses to each person. As the optometrist indicates, “before you had to adapt to the glasses, but now we have turned the tortilla, now it is the glasses that adapt to you.” Yes indeed, “This does not eliminate the rest of the data taken, but complement them“

And we have been able to verify it. In the process of creating glasses, they measure visual acuity, diopters and other parameters, to have as much information as possible.

In addition, advances in technology allow the area with more vision deformation, somewhat inherent to progressive lenses by their own definition, are in the parts of the crystals that are used less. But this part depends on the way of looking at each person, and that is where customization that expands artificial intelligence and measurement by virtual reality shines.

In the process of creation of the glasses, the day -to -day life, their type of work, how the glasses, etc. are also taken into account. According to José Antonio, when he began working “the patient adaptation to progressive lenses could last weeks or months. The process is currently much faster, a few days.”

Of course, he is aware that “that period continues to exist, we must not exaggerate saying that it no longer exists, but It has been reduced so much regarding what there was before the benefit is huge“

Although it is the multiptic excellence range that uses the data extracted from the tests with artificial intelligence to create the glasses, José Antonio indicated that he uses “AI in all patients, even if it is to collect some data that I, from experience, can use to recommend a better model, a better mount, etc.

” Artificial intelligence helps a lot, “But it does not replace the experience of an optometrist, of course, but it is useful to obtain more data and make better decisions,” he adds.

Data and more data

The most striking of this process is The amount of data that is taken into account to create glasses as customized as possibleand how AI helps. Not only vision maps are created, but the interpupillary distance is measured, that is, how separate their eyes are. Also the distance from the eye to the glasses lens.

“A problem that many people do not take into account is that The size of the mount can penalize comfort and experience. There are some categories of glasses that do take into account this, and different lenses are created depending on the size of the final glass, according to the mount that has been chosen. “

But there are more things in addition to the data, such as the patient’s attitude. According to José Antonio “there are patients who put on their part and have a very fast adaptation period and others more reluctant who get tired before, that the glasses are not always put on and alternate with the old ones … and in the end it takes longer to adapt.”

This is not something that depends on technology, of course, but The use of innovative systems does make patient predisposition betterin this expert’s opinion.

An innovative project

This type of technology has been developed in multioptics almost two years, although commercially has available about six months. The reception is being very positive, and patients feel confident for the use of this new technology and understand the improvements it implies when creating their glasses.

In addition, today there are no limits in the shape or size of the glasses that could be formerly, and it is relevant since each time they are changed before.

Currently in Spain the patients on average change glasses every 3 or 4 yearsalthough it is many times for fashion, more than by necessity. Of course, “in certain age ranges it is normal to have to change the glasses every few years.”

In the end it is about obtaining a product that is still a daily accessory, which helps us with our vision and that It is very important that it is comfortable. The optometrist highlighted that emphasizing that you also have to choose the mountain taking that into account, because it can affect how we see, whether or not we get dizzy, etc.

The price increase in the category of glasses used in the algorithms for the creation of the glasses is not especially expensive than the previous category, just over 100 euros.

This price difference also includes different improvements that the customer can choose without increasing the cost, such as the use of a decrease in blue light in case it passes in front of screens, photromatic lenses that change color with the sun to darken …