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Future iPhones may include a Myopia Diagnostics Feature that could alert a user if a new eyeglasses prescription is needed & more

1 civer

While Apple focuses a lot on health monitoring on Apple Watch, a new patent application revealed today at the U.S. Patent Office a process applied to an iPhone that may include detecting a distance between a display of the user device and a user. An eye health event may include detecting a myopic event related to a viewing distance. The testing in the iPhone over time could alert a user that they're in need of a new eyeglasses prescription. This feature could also perform various tests and automatically adjust font size and colors to ease the stress on a user's eyes. 

Apple's patent notes that adults and children alike are spending more and more time on user devices such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, etc. Despite the warning of eye-health professionals worldwide, a user of these devices may often hold the display too close. For example, frequent viewing of displays at distances of less than 30 cm may lead to myopia or other eye health problems. Even without necessarily leading to myopia, repeated close viewing of displays is well-known to create eye strain and a loss in general productivity.

Sometimes, a user may view a device too closely due to poor habits or other reasons. The user may not have myopia, but after repeated viewing of displays too closely, the user may nevertheless become shortsighted. At other times, the user may already be diagnosed with myopia. Due to a change in eye condition, such as a change in prescription, the user may begin to view the user device closer than they previously did. In either case, there may be a need to detect an eye health event related to close-viewing of the display.

For the non-myopia user, a corrective action may be performed, such as occluding the display for a time period in order to relieve eye strain or prevent eye damage.

For the myopia user, the corrective action may be performed as well as some other action such as prompting the user to make an optometrist's appointment.

In a specific embodiment, a user device may use one or more sensors to gather image data and detect a distance between the user device and a user. The user device may also determine information relating to a state of the user device at the time the distance was detected. The image data and the information relating to the state of the user device may then be processed on-device to determine if an eye health event occurred.

For example, the distance may be compared to a distance known to increase a risk myopia. If the detected distance is less than the known distance, an action may be performed by the user device. Furthermore, an entry may be made in a health datastore of the user device corresponding to the eye health event. The entry may include health-related information and/or other context-specific information associated with the eye health event (e.g., conditions present on the user device and surrounding the user device when the event was registered). The entry, and subsequent entries, may be later used to generate eye health recommendations for the user.

By detecting eye health events such as myopic events, the eye health of the user may be improved. In some embodiments, if an eye health event is detected, an action may be performed by the device. The action may be to display a notification, alter content being displayed at the time of the eye health event, occluding the display, or other such actions.

For example, if the user device is displaying text when an eye health event occurs, the user device (or software included therein) may continuously increase a size of the text until the distance between the user device and user is increased beyond the certain threshold. In another example, the user device may move or vibrate until the user device is moved beyond the certain threshold. Thus, the user device may at least partially assist in improving and/or protecting the eye health of the user.

For example, the user may be alerted to the need for a new prescription or other medical need based on a history of eye health events. In some embodiments, a suggested new prescription may be generated and transmitted to a third party automatically.

In other embodiments, a third party may be notified of an occurrence or occurrences of eye health events. A parent may be notified of their child's myopia-inducing behavior, for example.

Examples of the present disclosure are directed towards detecting eye health events and some of the potential actions that may address the eye health events and/or the eye health of a user.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below illustrates a block diagram and a flowchart showing an example process for detecting an eye health event.

2 Myopic Diagnostics

In Apple's patent FIG. 2 above, the user's iPhone (#202) may determine a distance (#206) between the user (#204) and a display of the user's iPhone via an image sensor (Camera #208). The image sensor may include one or more sensors such as a camera, an IR camera, a Lidar array, or any other suitable sensor. In some embodiments, the image sensor may include a combination of sensors, such an IR camera and a Lidar array.

The image sensor may be a passive sensor, collecting image data that enters the image sensor through an aperture. The image sensor may also be an active sensor (e.g., a Lidar array), transmitting a signal and collecting data from a reflection of the signal. In some examples, the image sensor may be the same Face ID camera used to conduct face scans to unlock an iPhone.

The iPhone may use all or some of the contextual information #210 to determine an appropriate action. For example, if one color is displayed for a series of eye health events, the action may include displaying a different color to reduce eye strain.

In another example, if the contextual information indicates that a brightness level of the display is too low, the action may include brightening the display.

Similarly, the contextual information may include information about a font size being displayed. The action may therefore include increasing the font size until the iPhone detects that the distance increased beyond a certain point (e.g., 40 cm). The iPhone may increase the font size on a system-level or on an application-specific level. Similarly, the iPhone may apply any action on a system-level or an application-specific level.

Apple's patent FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of a system for determining an eye-health event; FIG. 5 illustrates a process 500 for detecting an eye health event.

It would appear as though Apple is trying to justify keeping the iPhone Notch. The lead inventor of Apple's patent application is Henning Zimmer,  Apple's Machine Learning Manager. 

10.51FX - Patent Application Bar