Do myopes spend less time outdoors and what do they look at - Three projects involving 1) wearable light sensors/activity monitors, 2) digitally recording the visual environment, and 3) assessment of near focussing accuracy and eye movements during reading.
Christine Wildsoet, Professor
Optometry
Applications for Spring 2025 are closed for this project.
There is increasing interest in the role of sunlight and light exposure in the development of myopia. In this project, we are using a wearable light sensor/activity monitor (Actiwatch), for human subjects. The sensor will record the intensity of light subjects are exposed to, and will allow us to determine how much time they spent indoors and outdoors. The activity monitor allows us to determine how much time subjects are engaged in active physical activity.
A second component of this project concerns digital photography of the visual environment. We will have subjects take pictures of their visual environment at designated intervals throughout the day; this will give us an idea of how much time is spent indoors and in nearwork - reading, computer use - vs. outdoors.
A third component of this project involves measurement of near focussing behavior during reading.
Role: For the light sensor/activity monitoring component of this project, the student will help with screening subjects, delivering and collecting the Actiwatches and downloading and analyzing collected data.
For the second components of the project, which involves characterizing the visual environment of subjects, the student will be involved in analyzing the digital images and developing and/or testing out scripts.
For the third aspect of the object, students will help with data collection and analysis.
Qualifications: Experience with programming and data logging from sensors is a plus. This project is suitable for a sophomore or junior student with a major in EECS or Bioengineering.
For the second and third components of the project, understanding of cameras, optics, Exif data, and natural scene statistics is desirable. An ability to create scripts to extract and analyze data from cameras is a plus.This project is suitable for a sophomore or junior student with a major in EECS, Bioengineering or Physics.
Day-to-day supervisor for this project: Elise Harb, Staff Researcher
Hours: to be negotiated
Biological & Health Sciences Engineering, Design & Technologies