Techniques for providing computer assisted eye examinations

Abstract

A computer-readable medium includes computer-executable instructions that cause a processing unit of a user device to instruct a user to stand a predetermined distance from the user device, acquire an image of the user, and determine a user interpupillary distance based on the acquired image. The user interpupillary distance indicates a distance between the user's pupils in terms of pixels. The computer-executable instructions further cause the processing unit to determine a current distance between the user and the user device based on the user interpupillary distance, a predetermined interpupillary distance, a width of the acquired image in terms of pixels, and a field of view of the camera. Additionally, the computer-executable instructions cause the processing unit to display the current distance between the user and the user device on a display and display an eye chart when the determined current distance is equal to the predetermined distance.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that cause a processing unit of a user device to:
 instruct a user to stand at a visual acuity testing distance away from the user device, wherein the visual acuity testing distance is a predetermined distance away from the user device for taking a visual acuity examination;   acquire an image of the user using a camera;   determine a user interpupillary distance based on the acquired image, wherein the user interpupillary distance indicates a distance between the user's pupils in terms of pixels;   determine a current distance (d) between the user and the user device based on a width of the acquired image in terms of pixels, a field of view of the camera, and the equation d=(IPD)*f/L, wherein IPD is a predetermined interpupillary distance that is representative of a population of people, f is the focal length of the camera in pixels, and L is the user interpupillary distance in pixels;   display the current distance between the user and the user device on a display included on the user device;   display an eye chart on the display in response to the user reaching a distance from the user device that is equal to the visual acuity testing distance;   acquire testing images and testing audio of the user reading the displayed eye chart at the visual acuity testing distance; and   receive a user input indicating that the user has completed reading the displayed eye chart.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 instruct the user to move towards the user device if the determined current distance is greater than the visual acuity testing distance; and   instruct the user to move away from the user device if the current determined distance is less than the visual acuity testing distance.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 detect the user's pupils in the acquired image; and   determine the user interpupillary distance based on the detected user's pupils in the acquired image.   
     
     
         4 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 detect the user's eyes in the acquired image;   estimate the location of the user's pupils within the user's eyes; and   determine the user interpupillary distance based on the estimated location of the user's pupils in the acquired image.   
     
     
         5 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined interpupillary distance is an interpupillary distance that is representative of a population of people other than the user. 
     
     
         6 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined interpupillary distance is a value that represents a median interpupillary distance among the population. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to select the predetermined interpupillary distance from a set of interpupillary distances. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 7 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to select the predetermined interpupillary distance from the set of interpupillary distances based on the sex of the user. 
     
     
         9 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 7 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to select the predetermined interpupillary distance from the set of interpupillary distances based on the age of the user. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to transmit the testing images and the testing audio to a remote eye test system via a network. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to receive a prescription from the remote eye test system. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 acquire user information from the user, wherein the user information includes at least one of a user age, a user location, and a date of a last eye examination; and   transmit the user information to the remote eye test system.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 prompt the user to begin an eye redness test;   acquire eye redness test images of the user during the eye redness test; and   transmit the eye redness test images to the remote eye test system.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 acquire an image of an object of known size;   determine a letter size based on the image of the object of known size; and   display letters in the eye chart that are sized according to the letter size.   
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the camera is included on the user device. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that cause a processing unit of a user device to:
 instruct a user to stand at a visual acuity testing distance away from the user device, wherein the visual acuity testing distance is a predetermined distance away from the user device for taking a visual acuity examination;   acquire an image of the user using a camera;   transmit the acquired image to a remote eye test system via a network;   receive a user interpupillary distance value from the remote eye test system via the network, wherein the user interpupillary distance value indicates a distance between the user's pupils in terms of pixels;   determine a current distance (d) between the user and the user device based on a width of the acquired image in terms of pixels, a field of view of the camera, and the equation d=(IPD)*f/L, wherein IPD is a predetermined interpupillary distance that is representative of a population of people, f is the focal length of the camera in pixels, and L is the user interpupillary distance in pixels;   display the current distance between the user and the user device on a display included on the user device;   display an eye chart on the display in response to the user reaching a distance from the user device that is equal to the visual acuity testing distance;   acquire testing images and testing audio of the user reading the displayed eye chart at the visual acuity testing distance; and   receive a user input indicating that the user has completed reading the displayed eye chart.   
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 instruct the user to move towards the user device if the determined current distance is greater than the visual acuity testing distance; and   instruct the user to move away from the user device if the current determined distance is less than the visual acuity testing distance.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the predetermined interpupillary distance is an interpupillary distance that is representative of a population of people other than the user. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the predetermined interpupillary distance is a value that represents a median interpupillary distance among the population. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to select the predetermined interpupillary distance from a set of interpupillary distances. 
     
     
         21 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 20 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to select the predetermined interpupillary distance from the set of interpupillary distances based on the sex of the user. 
     
     
         22 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 20 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to select the predetermined interpupillary distance from the set of interpupillary distances based on the age of the user. 
     
     
         23 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to transmit the testing images and the testing audio to the remote eye test system via the network. 
     
     
         24 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to receive a prescription from the remote eye test system. 
     
     
         25 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 acquire user information from the user, wherein the user information includes at least one of a user age, a user location, and a date of a last eye examination; and   transmit the user information to the remote eye test system.   
     
     
         26 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 prompt the user to begin an eye redness test;   acquire eye redness test images of the user during the eye redness test; and   transmit the eye redness test images to the remote eye test system.   
     
     
         27 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , further comprising instructions that cause the processing unit to:
 acquire an image of an object of known size;   determine a letter size based on the image of the object of known size; and   display letters in the eye chart that are sized according to the letter size.   
     
     
         28 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the camera is included on the user device.