It's a potentially life-altering medical condition typically diagnosed in childhood. The good news is treatment works well if followed properly. The bad news is the treatment is hard to stick to.
An interdisciplinary team of University of Waterloo researchers is trying to improve treatment adherence through use of a social robot that can educate and motivate children and their caregivers.
The condition is amblyopia, where one eye doesn't see as well as the other. Though sometimes called 'lazy eye,' the problem is with the brain, not the eye. If the problem doesn't get corrected early enough, permanent vision loss can result, and poor vision in one eye can limit learning, well-being and future career options.
Amblyopia treatment involves patching the stronger eye for two to six hours a day, which can be challenging. When children and parents don't sufficiently understand the condition or its treatment, it's easy to give up, because many amblyopic children don't struggle in obvious ways.
Typically, clinicians briefly explain amblyopia to parents. However, it's hard for parents to absorb all the information at once and these conversations often don't engage the child.
Waterloo researchers, who have backgrounds in optometry, engineering and psychology, are developing a social robot they hope will overcome these hurdles.
The idea is that while they're at an optometry clinic, children and caregivers will spend time with the robot. The robot will interact with family members age-appropriately. For example, a young child could put a patch on the robot's eye and feel kinship with it, while the robot could show parents through a screen what each of their child's eyes sees and provide information about amblyopia and its treatment.
Mirrly, the robot
