Reimagining Glaucoma Diagnosis Through VR and Gamified Eye-Tracking

Category: Product Innovation / Digital Health / Eye Care Technology

Overview
As a digital strategy manager, I supported the development of an innovative VR-based solution for early glaucoma detection — transforming a traditionally expensive, tedious, and clinic-bound process into an accessible, gamified, and cost-effective experience.
The goal: to enable earlier diagnosis, improve treatment adherence, and prevent avoidable vision loss.

The Challenge
Traditional glaucoma testing hasn't evolved in over 30 years. It relies on bulky, static machines costing $50K+, can only test 10–15 patients per day, and often leads to poor patient compliance due to discomfort and complexity. In many regions, this results in delayed diagnosis — especially for at-risk populations like those with diabetes or limited access to specialist care.

My Approach
I was responsible for managing the development and integration of the VR solution — coordinating across a multi-partner landscape:

Technology partner: for VR headset and eye-tracking game development

Clinical interface: enabling HCPs to visualize results and interpret diagnostics

Business stakeholders: to prepare for commercialization and positioning in eye health and chronic care markets

Key innovations included:

A VR diagnostic game that tracks eye movements to assess visual field loss

A system capable of delivering 4x faster, 15x more tests per day than traditional methods

A cost-effective (<$2K) platform with remote capabilities and cloud-enabled data tracking

Expansion potential into AMD, diabetic retinopathy, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s detection

The Result
The prototype delivered reproducible results in early trials, with high user satisfaction and clinical promise. Patients described the experience as intuitive and even enjoyable — one said it felt like “playing a game.” By making testing more engaging, accessible, and scalable, this solution opens the door to earlier diagnosis, better treatment compliance, and longer preservation of sight.