Dyop® - Dynamic
Optotype™ Helping the world see clearly, one person
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Introducing the Dyop® The “Revolutionary” Method for Measuring
Acuity (Visual Clarity) “Any
sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” “Technology
is our word for stuff we don’t understand.”
Vision is a dynamic process inherent in all
animals. Our eyes are biological machines, and the world we see is
dynamic, NOT static. Our eyes are biological sensors to
detect motion, distance, and colors, to enable us to detect predators and
game, and to eat rather than be eaten. To be effective and
efficient, vision has to be a dynamic and autonomic process, where
we are totally unaware of the visual process mechanics. The
benefit of using a Dyop® for measuring visual acuity is not only from the
physiology of the Dyop test using Resolution Acuity but from the methodology
of how the test is used. As a result,
Dyop testing is up to six times as precise as 1862 Snellen letter-based
testing using Recognition of static letters or symbols for acuity and
refractions, up to eight times as consistent, and up to three times as
efficient. A Dyop also easily enables
testing of children, infants, or non-literate adults, as well as enables
measurement of acuity in color for potential diagnostic and therapeutic use. Basic Online Dyop Acuity Test https://www.dyop.net/documents/Dyop-Acuity_10-Feet.gif Basic Online
Dyop Color Screening Test Basic
Dyop Blue Green Visual Screening Test When you see images on your computer monitor,
tablet screen, or Smartphone, you think that you are seeing letters or
words or lines or shapes. What you are actually seeing are
“scanning lines” of pixels of light moving rapidly across the screen in
combinations of red, green, and
blue. The dynamic motion of those moving pixels
keeps the image from burning itself into the screen of the monitor. As you are reading
this, you think you are seeing lines and shapes and letters. Instead,
you are seeing pixels of electronic light generated by
the phosphors within the surface of your computer screen or Smartphone
and perceived by the photoreceptors in the back of your
retina. However, much like the “scanning lines” on an electronic
display, vision is a dynamic process. The dynamic motion of
those moving pixels keeps the image from burning itself into the screen of
the monitor. Much like the pixels of light being in motion, the
retina photoreceptors in the back of the eye are moving as a result of the
saccade process. Those retina photoreceptors combine the dynamic
responses (primarily of the colors Red, Green,
and Blue) into
giving you the illusion of vision.
When you look at an
object, the biological lens changes its shape to focus the image (a process
called accommodation) on the back center of the retina. For
distance images, the lens is thin. For near images, the lens has
to become rounded to bend the light. That accommodation process of
the lens changing its shape is part of Dynamic Visual Acuity keeps
your eyes refreshed when you look at letters or words or lines or shapes due
to the inherent vibrations of the photoreceptors provided by the
visual saccades. The saccades allow the photoreceptors to be
refreshed (equivalent to a shutter speed of about 0.33 arc minutes squared
per second) and provide a dynamic response (primarily of the colors red,
green, and blue) to give you the illusion of vision. The disparate focal
depths for Red, Green, and Blue (where Red is
focused BEHIND the retina, Green ON the
retina, and Blue in FRONT of
the retina) also provide Chromatic Triangulation to regulate
the shape of the lens of the eye and the relative focal depth of the image
being viewed. However, HOW YOU SEE is affected by the ratio of
the Red vs. Green photoreceptors
in your eye. A higher ratio
of Red/Green photoreceptors (75%
Red and 20%
Green) provides a more Stable
Distance Image but also causes Near
Vision Stress. A more balanced ratio of Red vs. Green photoreceptors
(50% Red and 45%
Green) provides a more Stable Near Image.
That High-Red-Ratio Vision (75%
Red and 20%
Green) with Near
Vision Stress is associated with enabling the ability
able to spot predators and game, and associated with cultures which use
pictographic writing. A Balanced-Red-Ratio
Vision (50% Red and 45%
Green) is associated with a Stable Near Image and
cultures that use letter-based words and “Western
technology.” That unstable near-image process of Near
Vision Stress is typically associated with symptoms of
dyslexia, migraines, and epilepsy. Response to colors by the biological lens Chromatic
Triangulation has Green Focused ON the
retina.
Dynamic
Visual Acuity is provided by the vibratory motion
of the visual saccades, which refresh the responsiveness of the photoreceptors
located in the back of the retina, much like the pixel scanning lines on an
electronic display. That photoreceptor refresh in turn allows the
neurons on the inner surface of the retina to act as the equivalent of a
biological circuit board. It also allows the photoreceptors to use the
constantly changing chromatic triangulation of the blue, green, and red focal
depths to regulate acuity. The eye
functions to receive visual stimuli and be self-regulating as to
acuity. The retina of the eye functions as a biological computer
which perceives strobic stimuli via the saccade process rather than just as a
transmitter of lines and shapes to the brain via the optic nerves. Much
like a camera sending images to a memory chip, the eye functions as a
pixelized source of retina stimuli to create vision and bring that image into
focus. Twenty-first century digital cameras use computerized
electronic pixels which respond to the colors and intensity to create the
images we see. In the eye, the response of about 100 photoreceptors is
merged into every optic nerve going to the brain. The
photoreceptors of the eye function like computerized pixels with the
photoreceptor refresh rate and the saccade process providing much of the
refresh mechanism. The saccade process exists primarily to provide a
refresh period for the photoreceptors when looking at static images to avoid
photoreceptor stimulus extinction. As a
result of the varying focal depths for colors, "relaxed vision" for
some trichromats has Green focused
on the retina and Red focused
behind the retina. That learned Red/Green acuity
focal depth response regulates acuity and accommodation. Rather
than accommodation being regulated by the length of the eye, the adjustment
as to accommodation is the learned response as to the comparative focal depth
for Red and Green. The
deceptive factor of Black/White acuity measurement is that
it masks the mechanics of accommodation regulation. In his 2011 Proctor Lecture presentation
Dr. Richard Masland described retina functioning as being similar to a
"biological computer" with the photoreceptors functioning much as
binary switches. Retinal_cells-Masland_Procter
Lecture.pdf A simple
illustration of the functioning of dynamic vision and photoreceptor depletion
is The Lilac Chaser Illusion. When you fixate
on the Plus (+) in the center of the ring of Pink circles below, you
likely see the Pink circles seeming to rotate around that
Plus. But it is also likely that you will see a single
moving Green circle
which appears to spin around the plus. The
illusion of the Green circle
appearing is because of the depletion of the Red photoreceptor
refresh resulting in the inability to “see” the color Red and
creating the illusion (delusion) that the depleted
photoreceptor area is seeing a Green circle. The
other two illusions illustrate the creation of cognition (Open Your Eyes)
even if it isn’t there, and the refresh effect of the saccades to create an
illusion of motion (Moving Dimple Pattern) even when it isn’t there.
A Dyop® (pronounced
“di-op” and short for dynamic optotype) is a spinning segmented ring used as
a visual target (optotype). A Dyop functions similar to visual
tuning fork to precisely, consistently, and efficiently benchmark your acuity
(visual clarity) using Dynamic Resolution Acuity rather
than “traditional” Static Recognition Acuity of
letter-based tests. The gaps and segments of the spinning Dyop
create a strobic binary stimulus of the photoreceptors of your
eye. When the gap AREA of a spinning Dyop gets
too small, that strobic visual stimulus area is too small for the
photoreceptors to detect that gap motion. The smallest diameter
Dyop ring, where the direction of the gaps spinning motion is detected,
benchmarks acuity (visual clarity) and may be used to determine
refractions. It also allows the precise measurement of vision in color,
vision in children and infants, and vision in non-literate individuals.
The
strobic stimulus of the spinning Black/White-on-Gray Dyop
gaps/segments functions as a (binary) on/off switch to stimulate
the photoreceptors facilitating Resonance
Acuity in response to the photoreceptors saccade refresh
movements. The strobic Dyop stimulus
lets you sense the pixel response to the images you are
seeing. The acuity endpoint is the smallest diameter where the
direction of spinning can be detected.
How We See Click here for the How
We See White
Paper Current vision “standards” use Static
Visual Acuity based upon the 1862 cultural ability to detect the
size and differences between static letters such as “E” and
“C.” As a result, it mistakes cognition for acuity, and improperly
and imprecisely “measures” vision. Because vision is actually a
dynamic process, using Static Visual Acuity, and static
targets to measure vision, depletes the response of the photoreceptors, is
inherently imprecise and unnecessarily inefficient, and tends to
produce an overminused (excess spherical power) refraction. “Classical” letter-based vision tests use a
theoretical gap stimulus area (the Minimum AREA of Resolution - MAR)
of 1.0 arc minutes squared. That letter-based
stimulus AREA is almost twice the size of the empirically derived 0.54
arc minutes squared Dyop actual Minimum AREA of
Resolution. Static letter-based tests are also inherently
imprecise because they use the cognition of cultural shapes to benchmark
vision rather than the actual physiological response of the
eye. Cognition of European-type letters-based letters become a
guessing game for both the doctor and patient and measures conceptual
processing by the patient as much as it does visual clarity. The strobic stimulus
of the spinning Black/White-on-Gray Dyop gap/segments functions
as a (binary) on/off switch to stimulate the
photoreceptors. As the stimulus area of the Dyop gap/segment AREA becomes
too small, that stimulus area becomes smaller than the minimum AREA of
photoreceptor visual resolution. The angular arc width of the
smallest diameter Dyop ring detected as spinning creates an acuity endpoint
which provides a precise, accurate, and efficient method of measuring visual
acuity. That precise acuity endpoint also creates optimum values for sphere,
cylinder, and axis and aids in avoiding an overminused refraction. That
10% stroke width and 40 RPM rotation rate also seem to be the optimum values
for Dyop attributes and maximizing its precision and accuracy. The “optimum Dyop” has a 10% stroke width
with 8 uniformly spaced gaps and 8 contrasting segments and a 40 RPM rotation
rate which creates a 0.54 arc minutes squared stimulus area (Minimum Area of
Resolution – MAR). The “optimum Dyop” also correlates to a
Dyop being up to six times as precise as Snellen testing, with one-sixth the
variance, up to three times as efficient, can measure acuity regardless of
the subjects level of literacy or culture, and can measure acuity in
color. That more precise stimulus area results in a Dyop acuity
having a linear increase in diameter and diopters of blur versus Snellen
testing typically have a logarithmic increase in height with diopters of
blur. The
smallest Dyop gap/segment stimulus area detected spinning as the
minimum visual stimulus threshold area (Minimum AREA of
Resolution - MAR) of 0.54 arc minutes squared correlates to
about 20 photoreceptors. That threshold is
significantly more precise, consistent, and efficient than staring at
letters. The actual direction of Dyop spinning is
irrelevant. The detection of spinning also lets
the Dyop test be used for individuals who “can’t read,” infants and
young children, and individuals with letter-processing problems such as
dyslexia. The current global “standard” for measuring
vision was developed in 1862, and is based upon the cultural ability of
Europeans to detect the size and differences between static letters such as
“E” and “C.” As a result, it mistakes cognition for acuity, it
improperly and imprecisely “measures” vision, it is culturally biased, and it
is dependent upon the subject having letter-based literacy. “Classical” Static and letter-based vision
tests use a theoretical gap stimulus area (the Minimum AREA of Resolution) of
1.0 arc minutes squared. That letter-based stimulus AREA is
larger than the empirically derived 0.54 arc minutes squared Dyop actual
Minimum AREA of Resolution. That Static MAR correlates to a
cluster of about 40 photoreceptors. Static letter-based tests are also
inherently imprecise because they use the cognition of cultural shapes to
benchmark vision rather than the actual physiological response of the
eye. Cognition of European-type letters-based letters become a guessing
game for both the doctor and patient and measures conceptual processing by
the patient as much as it does visual clarity. Until now, however, how we see and how our
eyes adjust its visual focus has remained a mystery. Your eyes function similar to the pixels
receptors of a computerized video camera. The eye’s photoreceptors
not only allow you to see in color (primarily Red, Green, and Blue),
but the refresh rate of the photoreceptors, the saccade process, and the
matrix response of the photoreceptors allow you to track changes in the location
of those images. The response of about 100 photoreceptors combines
to create the stimulus for each optic nerve fiber going to the brain which
creates vision and brings that image into focus. However, the
neural ganglia layer of the retina “process” those photoreceptor responses in
clusters of about 20 photoreceptors much as a biological circuit board with
the emphasis on patterns of motion and proximity. The comparative
focal depth of the red, green, and blue colors of the images also
regulates the shape of the biological lens and adjusts focal clarity. The strobic stimulus of the spinning
Black/White-on-Gray Dyop gap/segments functions as a (binary)
on/off switch to stimulate the photoreceptors. As the stimulus
area of the Dyop gap/segment AREA becomes too small, that stimulus area
becomes smaller than the minimum AREA of photoreceptor
visual resolution. The angular arc width of the smallest diameter
Dyop ring detected as spinning creates an acuity endpoint which provides a
precise, accurate, and efficient method of measuring visual acuity. That
precise acuity endpoint also creates optimum values for sphere, cylinder, and
axis and aids in avoiding an overminused refraction. The retinal pixel process is similar to the
display of a television or your computer. Detecting the spinning
gaps/segments is similar to detecting the electronic
pixels. Computer pixels are so small that, unless you are close
enough, you only see lines or shapes and NOT the pixels. As the spinning gap/segment area of
a Dyop gets too small due to the angular width of the ring getting
smaller, that gap/segment photoreceptor stimulus area becomes too small for
the photoreceptor clusters to detect that motion. That
smallest Dyop stimulus area detected as spinning creates
a visual clarity threshold (acuity endpoint) and is a cluster
area of about 20 photoreceptors. That Dyop acuity and refraction
endpoint is also significantly more precise than staring at letters inherent
in the Snellen test because it is functionally about half the area (0.54 arc
minutes squared) than the 1.0 arc minute squared average Snellen stimulus
area. The ability to detect motion is also a survival tool as
critical as detecting the size of the image itself. We See in Color
Color Acuity can
also be used for diagnostic tests. Basic Dyop Blue
Green Visual Screening Test
Certain
Dyop color/contrast combinations can also be used to screen for potential
symptoms of dyslexia, migraines, and epilepsy. Rather
than accommodation being regulated by the length of the eye, the adjustment
as to accommodation is the learned response as to the comparative focal depth
for Red and Green. The
deceptive factor of Black/White acuity measurement is that
it masks the mechanics of accommodation regulation. -
- - - - - - Brief
History of Vision Measurement Thousands of years ago, visual clarity
(acuity) was defined by the ability to see the nighttime gap between two of
the smaller stars in the handle of the Big Dipper constellation.
In 1862 Dutch Ophthalmologist Herman
Snellen used the ability to identify (European) letters as the benchmark for
visual acuity. Reading had become a dominant economic and social
skill in Europe. Snellen used the convenience of black letters on
a white background as the benchmark although most of what we see is
NOT in black and white and other cultures use pictographs rather than
letter-based words. While twenty first century technology is letter-based
technology, today’s visual acuity is primarily measured by the clarity and
ability to read text on an electronic display. Unfortunately,
vision science has not kept up with the precision and demands of those 21st century
visual needs. The use of Dynamic
Visual Acuity to provide increased precision, increased consistency,
and increased efficiency of the Dyop® tests are intended as a global
replacement for Static Visual Acuity letter-based tests such
as Snellen, Sloan, and Landolt optotypes, and provide a more universal and
efficient method of vision measurement. Origin
of the Dyop® Concept http://www.dyop.net/documents/Origin_of_Dyops.pdf
The ADDED problem of NOT having Optimum
Acuity/Refraction is that it impairs cognition as well as vision. https://www.dyop.net/dyslexia-default.htm
This
is especially significant now that we are NO LONGER in
the Age of Information or
the Age of
Information Overload. We are now in the Age
of Comprehension. The scientific and commercialization
benefits of the Dyop concept are due to its increased precision, consistency,
efficiency, and broader range of vision test attributes, and universal
patient acceptance versus "conventional" (1862) static-letter-visual
testing. The
“Perfect Storm of repeated mis-prescriptions” which led to the Dyop Tests
Allan's Productivity - 1988 to 2008 This Dyop "personal research
history" is anecdotal. However, all of the discoveries and
research have been peer-review validated by academically trained optometry
professors. Their research was also provided at NO charge due to their
scientific curiosity and the potential of improving visual processes.
The goal of the anecdotal research has been having those discoveries
reproducible and simple enough so that they could be peer-review
validated. The nature of the discoveries and the scientific validation
has been stunning and delightful. The observations which followed over the
next ten years are from discovering how and why that Snellen-generated
overminus occurred. It is easy to detect an image which needs a
more spherical lens power because it will appear blurry. It is
more difficult to detect an image which has too much spherical power because
the image will appear to be hyper-crisp. The advantage of a Dyop
test versus static images is that the Dyop arc width diameter will reach a
minimum when the combination of the optimum sphere, cylinder, and axis is
achieved. The
inherent tendency to fixate on static images during vision testing tends to
result in a measurement with excess visual sphere. Eyeglass and
contact wearers tend to NOT be aware of their overminus. The "optimum" Dyop rotation rate
seems to be a 7.6 arc minute and the "optimum" stroke width seems
to be 40 rpm for a Dyop 20/20 acuity endpoint. The
"optimum" Dyop stimulus area equivalent to a Snellen 20/20, or Metric
6/6, acuity and refraction endpoint is 0.54 arc minutes squared, or the
equivalent of about 20 photoreceptors. That "optimum" 0.54 arc minute
squared stimulus area at a 40-rpm rotation speed creates a photoreceptor
refresh rate (much like the shutter speed of a camera) of 0.33 arc minutes
squared per second. Dyop
Concept of Vision and Accommodation Dyop
vs. Snellen Comparison A
comparison of the Dyop test vs. the Snellen/Sloan/Landolt tests leads to the
following conclusions as to the numerous flaws inherent in Snellen-type
letter-based vision testing. 1. The
stimulus seen by the color-perceptive cone photoreceptors in the retina
foveal area is a two-dimensional AREA rather than a
one-dimensional value of height as defined by Snellen. 3. The (empirically determined)
optimum Dyop stimulus AREA is 0.54 arc minutes squared. Conventional
Snellen/Sloan/Landolt (1862 static-letter-based) tests have a defined
theoretical stimulus AREA of 1.0 arc minute squared.
That almost two-fold excess size of the Snellen stimulus AREA is
the reason for "standard" static-letter-based tests having a
logarithmic increase in size or viewing distance with a linear increase in
diopters of blur. The (empirically determined) Dyop stimulus AREA has
a linear diameter increase with an increase in blur and/or viewing distance. 4. The LogMAR research and academic “standard”
of the Eye Care Profession is not based on the more precise RESOLUTION
Acuity of the eye but rather is based on the culturally dependent and
subjective RECOGNITION Acuity as interpreted by the eye care examiner.
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@DyopVision.org 5035
Morton Ferry Circle, Johns Creek, GA, 30022
/ 404-281-7798 Copyright
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