Smart Optometry announced a milestone for its digital vision-therapy platform AmblyoPlay, following the publication of the first peer-reviewed scientific study demonstrating its clinical effectiveness in treating pediatric anisometropic amblyopia. The 6-month controlled clinical study, conducted at Istanbul Medipol University, showed that AmblyoPlay leads to meaningful improvements in visual acuity, stereopsis, oculomotor function, and motor coordination in children aged 7 to 13.

Amblyopia—particularly the anisometropic subtype—arises from unequal refractive error between the eyes, resulting in chronic cortical suppression and impaired binocular integration. Traditional interventions such as patching often yield limited results in older children and struggle with compliance challenges, while primarily targeting monocular acuity, according to Smart Optometry.

AmblyoPlay seeks to overcome these limitations through gamified, multimodal, app-based therapy using dichoptic stimulation and adaptive visual-motor exercises. The platform simultaneously engages both eyes while training binocular integration, depth perception, motor coordination, and oculomotor control—domains increasingly understood as integral to comprehensive amblyopia rehabilitation.

Study Overview and Outcomes

The prospective pilot study enrolled 29 children—14 receiving AmblyoPlay therapy and 15 serving as controls. Participants in the treatment group completed daily home-based dichoptic training over a 6-month period, with outcomes assessed at baseline and again at 1, 3, and 6 months.

Key Findings

  • Visual Acuity: Mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved from 0.23 to 0.08 logMAR, equivalent to roughly 1.5 lines of improvement on a logMAR chart

  • Stereopsis: Median stereoacuity improved from 300 arcsec to 45 arcsec, reflecting major gains in binocular depth perception

  • Oculomotor Function: Children demonstrated reduced saccadic latency and improved smooth-pursuit and optokinetic response, signaling enhanced control of eye movements

  • Motor Coordination: Measurable improvements were observed on BOT-2 upper-limb coordination and balance subtests, indicating benefits extending beyond visual processing alone

  • Control Group: No meaningful changes occurred among untreated participants, reinforcing the conclusion that AmblyoPlay itself drove the observed improvements

The publication of this study marks the first peer-reviewed evidence validating AmblyoPlay’s effectiveness in a real-world pediatric population, according to Smart Optometry. Its demonstrated improvements across visual, binocular, oculomotor, and motor domains support a growing shift toward integrative, multimodal rehabilitation for amblyopia—particularly among school-aged children who traditionally show reduced responsiveness to treatment.

“This independent clinical validation is a major milestone for us, confirming that AmblyoPlay is not only engaging but clinically effective," said Matic Vogrič, CEO of Smart Optometry. "Thousands of real-user success stories are now reinforced by rigorous scientific evidence. It’s a strong endorsement of our team’s work and our mission moving forward.”