Improving visual skills takes time, consistency, and a willingness to keep going even when progress is not immediately noticeable. For Aleš, an adult AmblyoPlay user from Slovenia, this meant committing to six months of regular vision therapy after learning that his left eye was amblyopic.
Over the course of his AmblyoPlay journey, Aleš completed 181 therapy sessions, played more than 1,100 games, and attended follow-up examinations with his optometrist to monitor his progress.
Here is his story.
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Living With Amblyopia in My Left Eye
Before I started using AmblyoPlay, most of my vision difficulties were related to my left eye.
I had been diagnosed with amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, as well as astigmatism. Although I had learned about the problem with my left eye several years earlier, I wanted to find a way to actively work on my visual skills rather than relying only on vision correction.
During an eye examination, my optometrist, Ivo Rimc from Optika Rimc 1977 in Ljubljana, introduced me to AmblyoPlay.
The idea immediately caught my attention. Instead of traditional repetitive exercises, AmblyoPlay offered a more modern approach in which vision therapy could be performed through an application, specialized glasses, exercises, and games.
I decided to give it a try because I wanted to do something active and consistent for my vision.
Starting My Six-Month AmblyoPlay Journey
Once I started, I made a decision: I was going to do my vision therapy every day. And I managed to stick to it.
During my six months with AmblyoPlay, I completed:
- 181 therapy sessions
- 1,125 games
- 26 eye tests
For me, the most important part of the entire experience was discipline.
Vision therapy had to become part of my daily routine. I needed to continue even when I could not immediately see a difference from one day to the next.
That is something I learned quite quickly: progress is not necessarily something you notice overnight. Regular therapy and consistency matter.
One of the advantages of AmblyoPlay was that the therapy did not feel like a single repetitive exercise. The interactive games and different tasks made it easier for me to stay engaged over a longer period of time.
Staying Motivated Through Games
After hundreds of games, I definitely developed some favourites.
The games I enjoyed most were generally the ones where the objective was easy to understand, the gameplay felt smooth, and I could see myself improving.
Games such as Cross the Road, Flappy Bird, and Collect Shapes were among those I found particularly motivating. I also enjoyed the memory game because it required concentration and keeping track of different positions.
What mattered most to me was having a sense of progress.
When I could see my score improving or felt that I was getting better at a task, I naturally wanted to continue.
At the same time, six months of regular use also gave me plenty of time to notice areas where the experience could be improved.
Some games became much more difficult very quickly. When elements started moving too fast, controls were challenging, or all available lives were lost within a short period of time, my motivation sometimes decreased.
Based on my experience, I think more gradual increases in difficulty, additional rewards or lives, and more adaptation to the individual user’s abilities could make it even easier to stay motivated during long-term vision therapy.
That said, the variety of games gave me a good foundation for regular therapy and helped make the experience more engaging than simply repeating the same exercise every day.
Seeing Progress After Three Months
The first measured progress became apparent after approximately three months of regular AmblyoPlay vision therapy.
At my follow-up examination after around three and a half months, my optometrist tested my visual acuity again.
When reading individual letters with my left eye, my visual acuity was measured at V = 0.8. The examination report noted an improvement in partial/monocular visual acuity of approximately 0.2–0.3 compared with the initial measurement.
Based on those results, my optometrist recommended that I continue using AmblyoPlay for another three months before returning for another examination.
So that is exactly what I did.
What Happened After Six Months?
I continued with my vision therapy regularly for the full six-month period and returned for another follow-up examination.
At that visit, visual acuity in my left eye was measured at approximately V = 0.7–0.8 when reading individual letters, with the report recording an improvement of approximately 0.2 in partial visual acuity compared with the starting point.
Not every aspect of my binocular vision had changed. Testing still showed suppression of the left eye on some polarized tests, while other tests did not show suppression.
For me, this is an important part of the story as well.
Vision therapy was not about expecting everything to change immediately. It was about working consistently, monitoring the results, and understanding that different visual functions may progress differently.
Following the six-month examination, my optometrist recommended continuing with AmblyoPlay vision therapy.
The Everyday Difference I Noticed Most
Numbers from eye examinations are useful, but I was also interested in whether I could notice a difference in everyday life.
And I could.
The improvement I personally noticed most was while watching television.
Subtitles appeared sharper to me than before.
It might sound like a small change, but for me it was a very tangible way of noticing that my visual experience felt different.
More generally, after six months of regular vision therapy, I had the feeling that my vision was better and that actively working on my visual skills had been worthwhile.
What Six Months of AmblyoPlay Taught Me
My biggest takeaway from the experience is simple:
Be persistent.
Improvement is not something I would judge after a few days of therapy.
There were days when progress was not obvious and games that I enjoyed more than others. But looking at the entire six-month period gave me a completely different perspective than looking at individual therapy sessions.
Do not give up simply because you cannot see an immediate change.
For me, incorporating AmblyoPlay into my routine and following the therapy consistently was an important part of the experience. After six months, I felt that actively working on my visual skills had been worthwhile, and I was especially happy to notice a practical difference in everyday life – even something as simple as seeing TV subtitles more sharply.
Be patient, be persistent, don’t give up, and give the therapy a chance.
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