Refraction devices are ophthalmic diagnostic instruments that measure a variety of refractive errors of a patient's eye. An eye care professional may utilize the measurements taken by a refraction device to determine, inter alia, a patient's corrective lens prescription. During use of a refraction device, a patient looks into an adjustable eyepiece of the refraction device to view an eye chart positioned a selected distance away. As the patient is viewing the eye chart, the eye care professional adjusts various optical lens elements of the refraction device based on subjective feedback provided by the patient on whether an adjusted optical element improves or degrades visual acuity.
Typically, the patient's participation in an eye examination generally does not extend beyond providing responses to cues from the eye care professional. Thus, while the patient does have some input during the refraction process, control over the adjustments to the optical elements of the refraction device is solely in the hands of the eye care professional. In this way, the degree of accuracy of the measurements is vulnerable to any faulty communication between patient and professional. Further, since the patient is only partially responsible for the outcome of the eye examination, if the patient is displeased with the prescription of the resulting eyewear, the patient may be inclined to place the sole blame on the eye care professional rather him or herself. As such, eye care professionals and patients alike may benefit from increasing patient involvement in the refraction process. This can result in an increase in the accuracy of the measurements and an improvement in the confidence of the patient in the final determined prescription.
Accordingly, there is a need for refraction devices that provide patients with more control over the eye examination process. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a refraction device that creates a more intuitive experience for the patient, has improved accuracy in taking refractive error measurements, and is more handicap-accessible.