BY: CLAIRE KIM
Recently, I have been watching a k-drama called “My Holo Love” on Netflix, featuring two individuals, an eyeglass marketing manager and a GIO Lab Hologlass engineer, and an AI hologram, “Holo”, stuck in an unexpected love triangle. Perhaps one of the most unique storylines ever approached in Korea’s film industry, the idea of such romantic interactions between an AI and a human isn’t what draws my attention, however. Rather the technological application itself called “Hologlass” that allows for the AI hologram to even exist in the first place excites me. Its ability to understand human emotions, relay one-on-one counseling, and even sense the user’s pulse amidst tense situations reminds me of our society’s own attempt to create such an application.
Called IrisVision instead of GIO Labs, as mentioned in the show (haha), this company has been in the works of developing a virtual reality headset that can address vision problems through programmed algorithms and technological software. Clunky and nowhere near as sleek as the “Hologlass”, the headset remains a device to be enthusiastic about for its incredible abilities in monitoring not only visual proficiency but also in providing optometrical treatment.
Clarity is a “basic” function for the virtual headset.
What makes IrisVision so unique compared to other competitors in the market is its ambition to create a device that “in addition to improving sight, is [..] able to diagnose conditions and test and even treat patients remotely within the next two years.” Already able to help restore visual functions of the following impairments—macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosis, Stargardt disease, glaucoma, and optic atrophy—, the headset’s capacity to register such conditions and further suggest methods to reduce such effects without formal examination is groundbreaking.
If curious as to how this virtual headset works, in summary, as stated by the New York Times, “The smartphone’s camera captures an image, and then the virtual reality or V.R., headset, and algorithms enhance the image by providing enough information to fill in the gaps and remap the scene to provide a complete picture.” Avant-garde huh?
The prospect of having my own “Hologlass”, a device readily able to help my terrible eyesight and, potentially in the future, astigmatism, is exciting.
Technology x Optometry, oh yes!
claire kim. 