Children, reading and learning
Dyslexia, Amblyopia
Technology and new ideas
The eyeRead device
eyeRead is a small electronic device for correction of certain reading problems primarily for children. It has the following capabilities that are programmable for each eye individually-
• Transmissive control for each eye
• Passive stimulus controls
• Active stimulus controls
• Function to determine current eye unbalance
• CIE colour sensitivity and stimulus controls
eyeRead is a home use health device, for home-use correction of children’s reading problems
• Suitable for children from 4 years up to late teens
• Less than 20 grams weight
• Internal lithium battery operation, recharging from a USB port
• Use it for 30 – 60 minutes each day for 2-3 months, reading textual material
• It is used daily without a computer connection
• eyeRead includes Windows software. The device can be connected to a computer via USB every 3-8 days as desired to modify it’s working profile to suit the child’s progress.
• Nearing completion is a full embedded video recording function for each eye, less than 3 grams total extra weight, synchronisable with stimulus and CIE controls. Video can be viewed on a computer or phone, and video can be sent in real time to a remote internet site for analysis.
What does eyeRead do
eyeRead is an exercise machine for the eyes, a small lightweight wearable device. It provides controlled programmable and stimulus paced steady text reading practice. The rate is set by the PC software, as is the stimulus methods for each eye, independently for each eye. The objective is to excercise micro habits of the brain, oculomotor and eyes, and to develop a more consistant pattern of movement when reading.
How is the problem noticed, how many have it
• If a child reads poorly in class, teachers may notice the problem and perhaps notify parents. Or parents may notice poor school results and lagging advancement, or poor reading development at home, and search for answers. Action and remediation is for parents to decide and implement. (Buy an eyeRead!)
• Worldwide approximately 1.5% – 5% of children have amblyopia. The US NIH has published a general indicator of about 2.5% of US children having it, about 1.8 million US children. India publishes a slightly higher percentage of 3.2%, about 15 million Indian children.
The human visual model
Humans have a stereoscopic visual system composed of a brain, two eyes, and eyeball control oculomotors. The system works rather automatically. It develops naturally in children in the first few years of life. Reading is a continuing development of this system.
• Comprehension. The eyes collect and bring to the brain images, in a complex order, so the brain can
assimilate the images and comprehend and transfer the data to other brain functions.
• Saccades and fixations. Contrary to common thought, the eyes do not move smoothly across the printed
page during reading. Each eye makes independent short rapid movements called saccades, that typically move it’s focus forward about 6–9 character spaces. Saccades typically take 20–50 msec (milliseconds) to complete, and virtually no visual information is extracted from the eye during these movements. Between saccades the eye remains stationary for brief periods (typically 200–250 msec) called fixations.
• Acquisition. During saccades, vision acquisition of the saccading eye is suppressed, information to be read is acquired only during the eye’s fixations.
• To learn, a child’s brain needs to acquire information, a lot of it from reading books and paper materials. Eyes read in a complex well studied way, there’s a lot of academic research on it. This pattern is primarily controlled by the brain and the oculomotor muscles, unconsciously.
Modern difficulties
• Computer and smartphone screens, and their constant use, can interfere with developed reading habits. They encourage skipping text and viewing graphics in lieu of text. Reading paper uses light reflected off the page, while screens generate area backlighting of text and high speed regeneration of image components. This backlighting is a form of noise to the human visual system, increasing stress on it.
• Now more children go on to college than earlier times, and work skills and degrees are more important. Parents are more concerned with problems that can impact their child’s future career capacity. School learning and achievement has become more important for a child.
Can amblyopia be corrected
Yes. NIH clinical trials find that the treatment window for amblyopia extends to at least age 17. The task is to exercise the visual system to cause the brain to utilise both eyes equally and fully, as in riding a bike or learning a piano or guitar, training coordination, practising, and done in a graduated way as a gym trainer updates the physical workout profile of a person.
Technology
• There has been a lot of research into reading problems, little has flowed from this into modern products useful for amelioration and correction of amblyopia and dyslexia. Now, new lightweight wearable products are starting to appear. The eyeRead product is the result of years of analysis of vision research.
• Newer medical literature indicates a composite nature of amblyopia and reading, involving neurological and oculomotor coordination. While the amelioration of amblyopia can take 3-4 months typically, one or two refresh periods of training over a few years may be useful as the child continues to develop.
Some relevant reading materials. PDFs. All freely downloadable from the internet. Some examples –
Binocular Coordination of the Eyes during Reading
Blicklabor Fischer. German introduction to reading issues
Consequences of amblyopia on education, occupation and long term vision loss
EyeMap a software system for visualizing and analyzing eye movement data in reading Is Eye Patching Effective. Roth. A viewpoint against patching over an eye Neural_Correlates_of_Word_Recognition
Oculomotor Control, Brain potentials, Timelines of Word Recognition
Saccade & Vergence reading
Saccadic_eye_movements_and_cognition
Some empirical tests of an interactive activation model of eye movement control in reading The_E_Z_Reader_model_of_eye_movement_control in reading
Toward a Model of Eye Movement Control in Reading
July 1st 2021