Alexander Foss

"We are born with very poor vision and we learn how to see. This process is called perceptual learning and it commonly goes astray resulting in what is termed a lazy eye. This is where is structurally normal but the brain ignores it (in fact it is better termed a lazy brain). Good vision is more than having good vision in each eye but also that both eyes work together to give depth perception. Traditional treatments cover or blur the vision in the good eye so as to encourage the brain to pay attention to the “lazy” eye but this approach does nothing to encourage both eyes working together. The second problem is that children do not like patching and they struggle with the idea of deferred benefit which is an adult concept. So the second challenge is to provide the treatment in an engaging (such as a game format) manner. It is now possible to stimulate the lazy eye by selectively providing detailed information to that eye while providing the same background to both eyes thereby encouraging both eyes to work together and presented in an engaging format. There is a long history of trying to achieve this and modern technology is now making it possible. These are exciting times."