This $30 fitness tracker measures your eyesight, not your steps

Everyone knows about fitness trackers that measures your steps and heart rate at some point, but what about your eyesight? That’s what EyeQue’s Personal Vision Tracker sets out to do with its $30 gadget.

What is it?

No, it’s not a gadget you strap around your eyeball. Instead the EyeQue is a small cylindrical microscope which uses your phone’s display and a set of lenses to measure your eye’s refractive error to detect nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.

Once you’ve performed the test four to six times (about 30 minutes total), you’ll receive a set of “EyeGlass Numbers,” which can be used pretty much like a doctor’s prescription to order glasses. Of course, EyeQue recommends you see an actual optometrist, but it’s confident its system is as accurate as professional equipment, if not better.

The device works with both Android and iOS – the screen just needs to be above 300 dpi for the measurements to be accurate.

Why does it matter?

Your well-being is a much bigger picture than steps and heart rate can provide. While vision tracking is a very specific measure, approximately 75 percent of adults in America use either glasses or contact lenses.

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EyeQue could not only help you detect if you need glasses, but also help determine your eyesight’s trends over time – something a doctor can’t do because they’re not in your home every day.

When’s it coming?

The tracker actually started with a crowdfunding campaign under a month ago, and met its surpassed its $25,000 goal with about $127,000 so far. Moreover, EyeQue tells me they’ll be ready to ship starting February, so it’s actually a real product. You can pre-order one now by backing the Kickstarter page with $25 bucks, but you’ll likely have to order on EyeQue’s site once the campaign is over.

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