Researchers Have Vision-Correcting Computer Screens in Their Sights

What if everyone could clearly see their smart phone, tablet, computer and TV screens without having to wear corrective eyeglasses or contact lenses?

Approximately 75% of American adults use some form of corrective lenses to see or read properly. And most of us need them to see computer screens on a daily basis. Now researchers are developing new technology that uses computer algorithms to compensate for an individual’s visual impairment, so many of us may soon be able to ditch our glasses and contacts.

Brian Barsky, UC Berkeley professor of computer science, vision science and affiliate professor of optometry, teamed up with his university colleagues and MIT to improve vision-correcting display technology. They developed a combination of hardware and software improvements to achieve both high-image resolution and contrast simultaneously, a major milestone. Their results were recently published in a paper in the ACM Transactions on Graphics.

First, they modified an iPod touchscreen by adding a standard light field display – a mask with an array of pinholes sandwiched between thin layers of plastic. The tiny pinholes were each 75 micrometers in diameter and spaced 390 micrometers apart. This light field display was used to enhance image contrast, providing a full range of bright colors in the displayed images.

The researchers also developed complex, innovative computer algorithms to adjust the light intensity from each pinhole. These algorithms helped enhance the resolution or sharpness of the displayed images. The researchers can use a person’s eyeglass prescription to compute an altered image; when viewed through the light field display, it appears in sharp focus for that individual.

“Our technique distorts the image such that, when the intended user looks at the screen, the image will appear sharp to that particular viewer,” said Barsky in a press release. “But if someone else were to look at the image, it would look bad.”

The technology could not only help the millions of people who wear glasses and contacts, but also those with complex vision problems that cannot be corrected. The most common vision problems – nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism – are often easily corrected with standard lenses. However, people with complex vision problems often have irregularities in the shape of their eyes’ surface or cornea, requiring new kinds of corrective lenses that are still under development.

“We now live in a world where displays are ubiquitous, and being able to interact with displays is taken for granted,” said Barsky. “People who are unable to view displays are at a disadvantage in the workplace and life in general, so this research could transform their lives.”

In the future, the researchers plan to incorporate commercially available eye trackers to adapt the displayed images to the user’s head position. They also hope to develop display screens that appear clear to multiple users with different visual problems.