Introducing
the Dyop®
The
“Revolutionary” Method for Measuring Visual Clarity (Acuity)
Helping the world see more clearly, one person at a time.
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Introducing
the Dyop® Dyop Basics The world we see is dynamic,
rather than static. To help us
survive, our eyes are biological machines which enable us
to detect motion, distance, and colors
so that we can see predators and food and are able to eat rather than be
eaten. Vision is a dynamic process inherent in all animals. Visual acuity is the term used to describe the clarity of how well you see. A refraction
is the process of using special lenses for measuring the sphere, cylinder, and axis optical variables which go into
creating eyeglasses and contact lenses to compensate for “less than perfect”
vision. Typical vision tests use
static letters or symbols as the standard targets for measuring vision. The flaw with static measurement systems is that they are typically only two dimensional using the height
of the visual target and the viewing distance to that target. Instead, the world we see (the “real world”). is a fifth
dimensional process consisting of height,
width, colors, distance, and time. A Dyop® (pronounced
“di-op”) is a calibrated segmented spinning ring visual target (aka, optotype)
which helps doctors (and you) test how clear your vision is. A
Dyop provides a strobic stimulus to the photoreceptors in the center
rear area of the retinal of your eye called the fovea. (See the illustrations and details
below). Dyop testing is better than
vision testing methods which use letters (aka, the 1862 Snellen “Big E”
test) or other static shapes because it is based on how your eyes work. As the Dyop diameter gets smaller, its
alternating gaps and segments get proportionately smaller. When the spinning Dyop gaps get sufficiently
small, the stimulus area of each gap is smaller than the minimum AREA to
stimulate the color-receptive
photoreceptors in the rear (fovea) area of the retina, which are clusters of
about 20 color-receptive photoreceptors.
When the Dyop gaps become too small to stimulate the clusters
of photoreceptors, the perception is that spinning of the Dyop ring is
not detected because the stimulus of
the gaps and segments tend to merge. A
Dyop NOT detected as spinning has a “sub-acuity” diameter. As the Dyop diameter
is increased to enable the gaps to
stimulate a minimum of 20 fovea photoreceptors, that minimum Dyop diameter
where spinning IS detected is
the Acuity endpoint. That minimum size threshold for
detecting the gaps as spinning is also called the Minimum AREA of Resolution (MAR).
(The biggest flaw in previous acuity testing, and acuity “standards”
when using letters is that Snellen viewed acuity as a two-dimensional, letter
height and viewing distance, problem and mistakenly called it the “Minimum
ARC of Resolution”.) The result of using a Dyop for
acuity and refractions is that a Dyop is up to three times more efficient than 1862
static Snellen letter-based tests (which also uses culturally dependent Recognition Acuity static letters
or symbols), up to six times more precise, and up to eight times more consistent. A Dyop also can measure acuity regardless of the subjects’
literacy skills or culture, and easily
enables testing of children or infants, and enables measurement of acuity in
color for potential diagnostic and/or therapeutic use. Static vision tests
(e.g., Snellen) are based on how well you recognize culturally
dependent letters or symbols, are influenced by where you're from,
or how much you've practiced (or memorized). Using a Dyop makes vision testing simpler,
faster, more precise, and more consistent. = = = = = = =
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= = = = = = = Sample Dyop Tests Online Dyop Visual Acuity Test –
Landscape format Open the acuity (visual clarity) test
with the above link. Note the smallest
pair of Dyop rings you can detect as spinning. View the spinning rings at a five-foot
distance. The center row of numbers between the
smallest pair of rings you can detect as spinning rings is the measure of your acuity. (Below are static images of the Dyop
Online Acuity Tests.)
Dyop Acuity Screening Test for use at
5 feet Dyop Acuity
Screening Test for use at 10 feet Online Dyop Color Screening Test -
Landscape format Open the acuity (visual clarity) test with the above
link. View the spinning rings at a
five-foot distance. The
smallest colored Dyop ring (Blue/Black or Green/White) you can detect as
spinning indicates your color acuity profile. Preferentially
seeing the Blue/Black rather than the Green/White indicates a probability of
symptoms of dyslexia, migraines or epilepsy. The center row of numbers between the
smallest rings you can detect as spinning is the measure of your color
acuity. (Below is a static image of the Dyop
Online Color Screening Test.)
Dyop Blue/Green Visual Screening Test for use at 5
feet Dyop Blue/Green Visual Screening Test for use at 10 feet = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Dyop Cognition Impairment Test A Dyop may also be
used to evaluate the cognition impairment associated with conditions such as
marijuana intoxication, PTSD, concussion injuries, and other possible
cognitive difficulties such as Alzheimer’s. https://www.dyop.net/documents/Dyop_Cognition_Test.html Use the
link above to open the Dyop Cognition Impairment Test. Note that
THIS is a Timed Test. Click the
word “Start” at the top of the test to begin. Additional
details are at: https://www.dyop.net/Cognition.htm (Below is a static image of the initial
screen for the Dyop Cognition Impairment Test.) Note that
when the test starts, FIVE Dyops will be displayed on the screen but only ONE
of them is spinning. Use a
computer mouse or touch screen to click the arrow adjacent to the SINGLE
spinning Dyop to indicate its spin direction. That Dyop will stop spinning,
but ONE of the other FOUR Dyops will then start spinning. Click the
arrow adjacent to that next spinning Dyop to indicate its spin direction. (Below is a static image of the response
screen for the Dyop Cognition Test.) When you
have found and detected all TEN of the spinning Dyop test response trials,
the screen will display
the number of Correct Selections and the elapsed Test Time. A test
completion time of 14 to 16 seconds with 10 correct responses indicates
mental alertness. A test
completion time of 21 to 26 seconds with less than 10 correct responses
indicates minor mental impairment. A test
completion time of 28 to 32 seconds with less than 8 correct responses
indicates increased mental impairment. A test
completion time of 35 to 40 seconds with less than 6 correct responses
indicates significant mental impairment. (Below is
a static image of a final response screen for the Dyop Cognition Test.) = = = = = = =
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= = = = = = = What Regulates Acuity For vision to be effective and efficient, it needs to be autonomic (so
that we are unaware of that process).
However, acuity is NOT
regulated by the brain. As light goes through the
cornea and lens, it is bent so that Blue is focused in FRONT of the retina, Green is focused ON the retina, and Red is focused BEHIND of the retina. (See the diagram below.) Acuity is regulated by the relative
focal depths and intensity of those colors as they are perceived by the color
sensitive photoreceptors in the fovea at the back of your eyes. Those color sensitive photoreceptors
then send their signals forward to the layer of neuroganglia in
front of the retina. That neuroganglia layer of cells then sends a signal to
the lens to regulate the shape of the lens to bring that image into focus. The process of
combining the response of the color-sensitive photoreceptors to light and
color is like the pixel images you see on
your computer monitor, tablet, or Smartphone. You think you are seeing lines, shapes,
letters, and/or words. What you really are seeing are
pixels of light moving rapidly across the surface of your
computer screen, tablet, or Smartphone in
combinations of Red, Green, and Blue. This process of acuity regulation and
accommodation is called Chromatic Triangulation. Chromatic Triangulation is based on the
concept of light that Isaac Newton discovered in 1665 when he filtered light
through a prism. https://www.dyop.net/documents/Dyslexia_and_Color_Perception-SandraStark.pdf https://www.dyop.net/documents/ASOP-06-0651-Dyop_Color_Perception.pdf A simple experiment to demonstrate that
acuity is regulated by the Chromatic Triangulation of Red, Green,
and Blue, rather than by the brain, is to close one eye and look around the room where you are now. You will notice that with only one eye open
you can still determine the relative distance to nearby objects without
the need for binocular vision. = = = = =
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= = = = = = = = = How
Acuity is Measured The
properties of visual clarity (acuity) are the SIZE (area) OF THE IMAGE being observed, the VIEWING
DISTANCE to that image, and the
ability of the visual system to PROCESS THAT IMAGE as clearly as possible (Resolution
Acuity). As a Dyop® spinning ring gets smaller, the
(equally sized) gaps and segments become so small that it becomes impossible
(sub-acuity) for the eye to detect the spin direction of the Dyop ring rotation. The Dyop acuity endpoint is the smallest Dyop diameter where the direction
of rotation of the spinning ring can still be detected. It serves as a precise, physiological
indicator of visual clarity and vision correction. A Dyop test can measure vision without the need
for patient literacy, measure vision in infants as young as 14
months of age, and let doctors precisely measure vision in
color enabling potential diagnostics for symptoms of dyslexia and glaucoma.
Static acuity tests (such as Snellen
letters) are inherently imprecise, inconsistent. They mistake the process of visual
cognition for visual resolution and have an overly large stimulus
area (1.0 arc minutes squared) as the benchmark vision rather than the
empirically determined smaller Dyop stimulus gap area (0.54 arc
minutes squared). Additionally, static
vision tests such as Snellen deplete the
dynamic response of the color receptive photoreceptors in the fovea and lack
the uniform precision of Dyop testing.
The result is that static vision tests tend to add excess minus power
to acuity and refractions, lead
to angular elongation of the eye and increased myopia and indicate that
Snellen testing may be a factor in the Global Epidemic
of Myopia. https://www.dyop.net/documents/Snellen_vs_Dyop_Refractions-Sanni.pdf https://www.dyop.net/documents/ASOP-2022-01_Sanni-update.pdf A simple test
to verify that your lenses are too strong (with
too much minus power IF you wear glasses), is
to push your glasses about a half inch away from your face and see if the
words you are reading become larger and more legible. If you notice that the words get more
legible, that Snellen-induced excess minus power of your glasses is typically
about 0.25
to 0.50 diopters. While it
isn’t much, it does reduce your cognition and possibly your IQ by 10 points. = = = = = = =
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= = = = = = = The Dyop® (Dynamic Optotype™) tests and concept are covered under U.S. Patent US 8,083,353 and International Published Patent WO 2011/022428. for further information contact: Allan
Hytowitz at Allan@Dyop.org 5035 Morton Ferry Circle, Johns Creek,
GA, 30022 / 404-281-7798 Copyright ©2025
DyopVision™ Associates. All Rights Reserved. |