Opternative: Eye exams from the comfort of home | Hacker News Reader

Opternative: Eye exams from the comfort of home

opternative.com

25 pointsprostoalex12 comments

I was super excited to hear this, but how are they going to check for cylindrical + axis defects? Is it even feasible? Or is the recommendation to visit an eye doctor every two years supposed to cover that?

Edit: Their disclaimer at the bottom says:

"Opternative’s technology is only intended and suitable for use by licensed eye care professionals to perform online refractive eye exams on patients between the ages of 18-40 and in good health."

I am now confused. Is it for self testing or not?

> how are they going to check for cylindrical + axis defects?

I have a lot of astigmatism. In their FAQ they claim they can test for it, but I'd love to know the details. I'm not about to give them $30 just to find out. It's all hand waving, there is very little detail on the site about how this testing works.

Feel a bit misled by the site. I assumed this was just launched the way you phrase everything until the sentence at the very bottom of the page.

For anyone else interested the text is: Sign up today We’re launching this winter. Sign up for early access to the exam.

Same here. I really wanted to give this a go and "try it out", but only launching in winter and even paying USD 30 for the result is a bit harsh. Let me see some examples of how this will work.

At face value, seems like it could be interesting, but there's a lot to be skeptical about. How can I be sure that I'm doing the test correctly without independent verification? Even with their "anti-cheating" instructions, I still wouldn't completely trust myself. Also, it doesn't seem like there's a way to verify if the results are accurate or not. Even if they are off by 1%, getting an inaccurate prescription (and consequently glasses/contacts) would be a totally unacceptable outcome for a service like this.

Unlike services like https://www.plushcare.com/ which use consumer devices as a subsitute for the office visit, Opternative seems to be using the consumer devices to replace the office visit, the doctor, and the traditional eye examination devices, and this seems a bit dubious to me.

On the other hand, if this service actually can consistently deliver, that would be so, so awesome.

Are people without existing issues with their eyes actually visiting the optometrist with any regularity? Every two years? That seems weird to me.

Surely eyes aren’t like teeth and need to be regularly inspected. Maybe beyond a certain age and with pre-existing conditions, but otherwise?

That’s more frequently than I go to the doctor for a general health check-up!

I go to the eye doctor every year, which is far greater regularity than I see the GP. I feel like if I could live with any handicap except blindness -- I consume so much information visually I'm not sure what I would do without my eyes.

But if you are supposed to go every two years what’s the use of this website? (Also, the place where I buy glasses offers free vision testing right then and there. You can just go in there, know nothing about what you need and order the right glasses.)

Interesting.

No explanation of how they do it and:

Internal studies show Opternative’s exam performing equally to a traditional refractive eye exam. Before launch, we will conduct a third party NIH registered, IRB reviewed clinical study and be in compliance with the FDA.

There are also adjustable eye glasses which you can focus yourself:

https://www.adlens.com/

https://www.eyejusters.com/home/

Unfortunately in the US they cannot sell nearsighted glasses without a prescription.

Interesting to see where adlens is now. I dated a woman who was leading their push into Africa and Latin America a decade ago. That's where they started - trying to give people vision correction who wouldn't otherwise have access to it.

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