The Mobile Vision Care Program has launched with the mission to affect academic achievement by providing free vision screenings and care to students. The new program and affiliated research study is a partnership between Verizon, OneSight (a nonprofit providing access to vision care and glasses in underserved communities), Smart Vision Labs (a tech startup aiming to change the future of vision care), and the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry.
The program kicked off its first event at OneSight’s Omaha Vison Care Clinic held in partnership with Omaha Public Schools and Building Healthy Futures. More than 600 Omaha Public School students received free vision screenings, comprehensive eye exams, and glasses (if needed) free of charge—prescribed by clinic doctors.

The partners’ mission over the next two years is twofold; they will work with selected school districts nationwide to:
1. Evaluate the impact of mobile technology (specifically the SVOne autorefractor by Smart Vision Labs) on improving the accuracy and efficiency of vision screenings performed by school staff and,
2. Measure student achievement gained by providing quality vision care (a comprehensive eye exam and glasses if needed) to students with failed vision screenings during OneSight Vision Clinics held at schools.

OneSight will train school nurses and health coordinators (as part of the Mobile Vision Care Program) to incorporate the SVOne mobile autorefractor, developed by Smart Vision Labs, into their vision screening process. The SVOne device will be used in addition to the standard visual acuity tests required for school-based vision screenings, which vary state by state.

The program will examine the potential benefits of training school nurses and health coordinators to incorporate Smart Vision Labs Technology (previously used primarily by optometrists) to improve the efficiency and accuracy of student vision screenings.

“The visual acuity tests used by many schools still rely on the Snellen eye chart, which was created more than 150 years ago,” says Yaopeng Zhou, CEO and founder of Smart Vision Labs. “While it is still considered to be a highly effective test, we want to evaluate the potential impact that mobile vision technology can have on improving vision screening outcomes for school teams and students.”