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Can an Oculus Rift game treat crossed/lazy eye?

One that's trying needs your funding help.

Can Oculus Rift retrain your brain and eyes to see in three dimensions again? Can it treat conditions such as Strabismus (crossed eye) Diplopia (double vision) and Amblyopia (lazy eye)?

A Rift game called Diplopia claims it can. "Measurable improvements" can be achieved in a month, and it's effective on adults as well as children.

The game itself is like a 3D Breakout. The clever part comes from Oculus Rift being able to display a different image for each eye. It sends incomplete images that force both eyes to work together, and having them work together is, after all, the ultimate goal.

"These strategies have been shown to be up to six-times more effective than the typical treatment, patching, which is often ineffective for children because of how extremely unpleasant it can be," explained creator James Blaha, who has Strabismus.

"Diplopia will offer a fun, effective, alternative to patching that can keep the attention of a child (or adult) long enough to treat them.

"I was told by doctors my whole life that I could never see in three dimensions like everyone else. By backing this project you can give the gift of better vision to those of us who lack it."

Blaha and Diplopia have already achieved the $2000 sought - enough to afford Oculus Rift dev kits, a Unity Pro licence, art and assets for the game. He's even broken his $4000 stretch goal that adds Razer Hydra motion sensing support to the game. He's got 48 days left to see how much further he can go.

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Robert Purchese avatar

Robert Purchese

Senior Staff Writer

Bertie is a long-time writer and now podcaster for Eurogamer. He loves telling a story and listening to them.

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