Spot Vision Screener wins Bronze in International Design Excellence Awards

LAKE MARY, Fla., July 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA®) have named the Spot vision screener the recipient of the Bronze IDEA in the category of Medical and Scientific Products, PediaVision announced today.  IDEA is the premier international competition honoring design excellence in products, ecodesign, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts.

"This is a tremendous honor to receive the Bronze Award for the design of Spot," said David Melnik, president and chief executive officer, who spearheaded the design of Spot in collaboration with the Bresslergroup.  "In the design of this technology, we addressed all of the challenges facing vision screeners trying to attain quick, easy and accurate results of as many children as possible.  By compacting this technology into a lightweight, portable, wireless, handheld device, we can achieve maximum results, offering vision screening that is both easy and objective." 

Everyday 25 percent of all school-age children across America suffer from a vision problem,[1] totaling more than 12 million children who are unable to see the blackboard or read their textbooks.  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that vision disability is the single most prevalent disabling condition among children. Approximately 80 percent[2] of what children learn in their early school years is visual. Alarmingly, fewer than 15 percent of all preschool children receive an eye exam and fewer than 22 percent receive any type of vision screening. 

"When PediaVision engaged our firm to collaborate on the design of Spot and shared with us the challenges in the market, our team knew instantly that we would be part of a significant industry change," said Andrew Weiman, managing partner of Bresslergroup.  "Coupling the unique design with what Spot can do was sure to capture the attention of design organizations and industry experts." 

Spot's revolutionary screening system is designed to quickly identify vision issues in children as young as 6 months through adults, including near-sightedness, far-sightedness, astigmatism, eye misalignment; along with unequal refractive power and unequal pupil size.  Spot has an incredibly quick capture time of one second or less which makes screening equally efficient in a physician's office or large-scale public screening.  Spot's touchscreen interface clearly displays the results instantly and objectively. 

The key to this design's success is the unique integration of PediaVision's patent-pending optics and processing algorithms, making what was once complex, as simple as taking a photo.

"Professionals who have been doing vision screenings for years are always amazed when they first see Spot and how quickly and easily it can capture the vision data," said Melnik.  "We can screen more than 1,200 children in five hours with a couple of devices. That makes a difference for schools, community groups and pediatricians, the professionals on the front line."

With this award, Spot will have the distinction of being housed in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan along with the other winners of this prestigious award.

About PediaVision

PediaVision, inventor of the Spot vision screener, is dedicated to solving the critical health issue of undiagnosed vision problems and transforming the lives of thousands of children each day.  A child with an undetected or untreated vision problem is more likely to develop social or emotional problems. Thus, a child's vision problems can affect not only their own learning, but that of their peers.[3] Automated and objective vision screening empowers organizations in public health and private medicine to ensure children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Supported by ophthalmologists, optometrists, scientists and leading technology innovators, the Spot vision screener is breakthrough technology and represents what vision screening should be.  For more information, including how to order Spot, please visit www.pediavision.com. 

[1] A Call to Action, Joel N. Zaba, MA, O.D. for Essilorvision Foundation, September 2008.

[2] American Optometric Association. (2000). Optometric clinical practice guidelines. Care of the patient with learning-related vision problems. St. Louis: Author.

[3] 2010 Charles E. Basch, Teachers College, Columbia University. A Research Initiative of the Campaign for Educational Equity Teachers College, Columbia University.

SOURCE PediaVision