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Comment by umvi | Hacker News Reader

Seems like the majority of optometrists could be replaced by photo booth-esque optometry machines. Simply sit in a booth, look through some eye ports, and the machine will automatically start cycling through lenses and making you choose between 1, 2, or equal. At the end it spits out your prescription for a nominal fee. For an extra fee you could have additional eye imagery taken by the machine sent off to a remote optometry lab for analysis.

I've never been to optometry school, but 10/10 times I've gone to get a new prescription, the prescription process has been extremely algorithmic, to the point where I wonder if cartel-esque forces are preventing automated optometry machines.

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Disclosure: I'm a software dev, but my fiancée is an optometrist.

There are already machines (called autorefractors) that can try to calculate your prescription. They operate on more complex principles than flipping lenses back and forth. They can provide a good starting point, but sometimes they aren't accurate.

A good optometrist can do a lot more than just give you your prescription, though. They should be checking your eyes for signs of disease, and treating things that they find. Seeing an optometrist for a checkup is preventative medicine, like regularly seeing a primary care physician or a dentist.

Agreed. They do a lot more than just churn out refractions.

My brother actually has a company called OnSightEyes.com which uses a smartphone-powered device to measure prescriptions. Their model is to show up at companies and run diagnostics for their employees which are then covered by insurance.

They still need an optometrist on-site, and they have a bunch of sample frames you can try on and order right there, and/or have sets you like sent directly to you to try on later so your partner can weigh in / you can take you time, etc.

Glasses take about a week once ordered and are typically priced such that they're fully covered by insurance. I felt like they were comparable to Warby Parker quality as well.

I was a guinea pig to give them feedback and it was VERY slick - I feel like it took only a few minutes. Way better than the A/B optometrist process and opaque and expensive frame / coatings upsell.

Anyways, apologies for sounding like infomercial - it's just they do a really good job with an upgrade on the kind of device you're talking about so I figured I'd share exactly how it works.

I feel like their main limitation is finding optometrists in new cities who are willing to "try something new" to run diagnosis events - who unsurprisingly tend to be younger doctors less invested in the legacy diagnosis model.

My optometrist has a machine that automatically generates your prescription. They do some cross-checking with the old fashioned "which looks clearer, this one or this?" lens machine too, but just out of caution.

I consider my vision important enough to get a human opinion on it. Even if a machine can do it correctly 99% of the time, having someone experienced there to confirm the choices is worth it.

Even if the human has been encouraged to lie, cheat, and steal from you?

Optometry, particularly w/ re: prescriptions, seems like the one field of healthcare where patients can be reasonably informed. You can generally tell instantly if a prescription is right for you, and I wouldn't think there's any incentive for an optometrist to lie about your Rx.

Agreed but I could seeing going to an optometrist every 5 years for a comprehensive exam while using a machine every year between doctors visits.

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