Introducing
the Dyop® The
“Revolutionary” Method for Measuring Visual Clarity (Acuity) Helping the world see more clearly, one person at a time.
Click here for the introductory Dyop Videos The world we see is dynamic,
rather than static. Vision
is a dynamic process inherent in all animals. 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 eaten. 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 (e.g., Snellen tests) 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.
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 current 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” when the visual targets are more
properly the “Minimum AREA 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 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 test.) Dyop
acuity screening test for use at 5
feet Dyop acuity screening test for use at 10 feet
Online Dyop Color Screening Test 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. The row of numbers below the smallest
colored ring you can detect as spinning is the measure of your color acuity. Preferentially
seeing the smaller Blue/Black rather than the Green/White indicates a
probability of
symptoms of dyslexia, migraines or epilepsy. Dyslexia and Color
Perception https://www.dyop.net/documents/Dyslexia_and_Color_Perception-SandraStark.pdf Color Perception as a
Diagnostic https://www.dyop.net/documents/ASOP-06-0651-Dyop_Color_Perception.pdf Advances in Dyslexia
Management https://www.dyop.net/documents/Advances
in Dyslexia Management.pdf (Below are static images of the Dyop
online Color Screening tests.) = = = = = = = = =
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= = = = = Dyop
Visual-Impairment Test A Dyop may also
be used to evaluate the visual/mental impairment associated with conditions
such as marijuana intoxication, PTSD, concussion injuries, and other possible
mental difficulties such as Alzheimer’s. https://www.dyop.net/documents/Dyop_Visual-Impairment_Test-x10.swf.html Use the link above to open the Dyop Visual-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/impairment.htm (Below is a
static image of the initial screen for the Dyop Visual-Impairment Test.) Note that when the test starts, there will be FIVE
Dyops 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 Visual-Impairment 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 Visual-Impairment Test.) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 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. The Chromatic
Triangulation process for acuity/accommodation regulation is based on the
concept of the refraction of light that Isaac Newton discovered in 1665 when
he filtered light through a prism. While images are stored in
the brain, acuity is NOT regulated by the brain. Dyslexia and Color
Perception https://www.dyop.net/documents/Dyslexia_and_Color_Perception-SandraStark.pdf Color Perception as a
Diagnostic 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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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. However, Snellen and other static optotypes
mistake the process of Visual Cognition
Acuity for Visual Resolution Acuity. The standard Snellen stimulus gap is an overly
large AREA (1.0 arc minutes squared) as the benchmark for 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 If you wear glasses, 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 reduces your
cognition and possibly your IQ by 10 points. What becomes even more negative
regarding 21st century Snellen testing
is that the Global Epidemic of Myopia began at almost the same time in human history as the advent of the computer-generated Snellen test. Until then, Snellen letters
were viewed as reflected light with Black
printed letters or shapes on White
paper (to maximize contrast). With the
advent of computers, that contrast pattern was repeated EXCEPT that the printed tests used REFLECTED
light while the computerized tests used EMITTED light. Not only do the static
White Snellen gaps deplete the response and refresh rate of the fovea
photoreceptors, but the overwhelming WHITE background of
the monitor with the Black Snellen letters further
depletes the response of those fovea photoreceptors thus increasing the
addition of refractive minus power, angular elongation and the Global Epidemic of Myopia. You can verify that hyper-stimulus visual effect
by briefly staring at a white lightbulb and then closing your eyes. With your eyes closed you should still notice a white stimulus ring for an additional ten
seconds where the photoreceptor response has been depleted. That computerized hyper-stimulus is a contributor to the visual damage
done by using Snellen testing. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 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 /
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