Public invited to try burger shop themed games for testing children’s vision

A Southampton eye specialist is inviting people to play games that can test children’s vision in a new way. 

Partners at the University of Southampton and University Hospital Southampton (UHS) have developed three games.

The series is called Bright Sight Burgers. They provide a novel way of testing children’s eyesight. The team is led by Dr Jay Self.

Members of the public are now being invited to share their thoughts on which of the three games is most engaging.

People of any age, with or without an eye condition, can take part. Your feedback will help guide the development of these new tools.

Testing children’s vision

Dr Self has been awarded funding from a private equity firm, called Bluewater, for this research. The project brings together eye specialists, mathematicians and game designers from across the university and hospital.

The games are designed to test vision in children with conditions such as nystagmus.

Nystagmus is a condition where the eyes move rapidly by themselves. It affects around one in 1,000 people in the UK, and there is currently no cure.

The games record various aspects of vision not captured by traditional tests while the child plays.

Once developed, the tests will be used in clinical trials and studies of new treatments for various children’s eye conditions.

Have your say

The team is gathering feedback on each of the games to decide which to develop further.

Please follow the link using a computer and mouse (not tablet or smartphone) to play the games and answer the short survey. It will take around five minutes.

Dr Self is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University and Consultant at UHS. He said:

“We’re building on a concept we developed a few years ago through a Gift of Sight-funded study. The idea is that the games test a more realistic level of vision under time pressure, as the eyes are asked to move quickly around the screen.

“Previous results of a similar, less-sophisticated test showed that children with nystagmus performed significantly worse than children without nystagmus, even though they had the same visual acuity. We hope to develop the game study into an outcome measure for clinical trials in nystagmus.

“By taking part in this survey, you will be helping us greatly. Thank you for getting involved.”