This New App Can Give Your Eyes a Workout and Improve Your Vision Staring at screens can hurt your vision, but the UltimEyes app aims to do the exact opposite.

By Katherine Gray

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

We all know that spending too much time squinting at screens can have a detrimental effect on our eyesight. But now there's an app that might actually be able to improve your vision.

While some things about your eyesight can't be changed without corrective lenses or surgery, there are things you can do to improve vision through simple exercises. The app, called UltimEyes, was created by a neuroscientist with the University of California and developed by a company called Carrot Neurotechnology. (Get it? Carrots are good for your eyes…) It's a "non-invasive interactive program designed specifically to improve vision by optimizing visual processing." In other words, a workout program for your eyeballs.

The program consists of four 25-minute sessions per week, for eight weeks. The sessions are designed to be fun and interactive games where users find and tap on hard-to-see dots on the screen.

In studies conducted by the University using baseball players as test subjects, the players who finished the training sessions reported an average 31 percent increase in eyesight, with some players reached 20/7.5 vision, which is significantly better than the "average" 20/20.

Here's a video detailing the baseball study:

The craziest part of all this is that the app isn't actually changing anything about the physical state of your eyes. What it's doing is rewiring your brain. With a technique called neuroplasticity, you can train your brain to better process the information it receives from your eyes – however blurry that information might be -- and become more adept at interpreting that data.

UltimEyes uses methods of perceptual learning combined with interactive gaming dynamics to improve visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and attention. By making the exercises both fun and challenging, like a well-designed video game, users are encouraged and keep making progress. Users can find the app "reversing the effects of aging eyes, reading without glasses, seeing better in dim light, or optimizing vision for competitive sports," the UltimEyes website says.

Currently only available for the iPad (for $5.99), there is also a desktop version for both Mac and PC. Android users, however, are out of luck.

What crazy apps and gadgets have you come across lately? Let us know by emailing us at FarOutTech@entrepreneur.com or by telling us in the comments below.

Katherine Gray is a freelance writer, photographer and desktop publisher based in western Maryland.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Data & Recovery

Through March 24th: 1TB of Premium Cloud Storage Is Just $130 with This Code

Koofr offers advanced file management features, integration with external cloud management accounts, and reliable security.

Business News

'A Lobstrosity': Social Media Is Losing It Over Martha Stewart's Latest Meal Posting

The 82-year-old caused quite a stir on Instagram this week.

Business News

7 Shocking AI Trends for 2024 That Will Leave You Speechless

Make sure these trends are on your radar.

Side Hustle

This Gen Zer's Stylish Side Hustle Earns About $20,000 a Month and Paid Off His Parents' $200,000 Debt: 'I Enjoy the Hands-Off Nature'

Ray Cao went from working as a barista for $8 an hour to being a successful seller on online marketplace StockX.