Medical Can modern glass eyes be moved like natural eyes?

AI Thread Summary
Modern glass eyes can be designed to move in conjunction with the functioning eye muscles of the wearer, allowing for some degree of realistic movement. However, glass eyes remain non-functional in terms of vision, as they do not provide sight. The customization process for glass eyes is highly detailed, matching the color and appearance of the remaining eye, but the pupil size remains fixed, which can be noticeable in certain lighting conditions. Discussions also touch on the challenges of creating functional eye prosthetics, with references to high-tech visual implants and the potential for simpler solutions for those with functioning retinas. Overall, while advancements have been made in the aesthetics and movement of glass eyes, they still lack the ability to restore vision.
DaveC426913
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Can glass eye sporters move their glass eye similar to their good eye?

Or are modern glass eyes still immobile?
 
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Yes, they can, provided they still have functioning eye muscles.
 
hamster143 said:
Yes, they can, provided they still have functioning eye muscles.

Cool. Examples? I haven't found any yet.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Awesome. Just won a bet with the wife.

I will enjoy this all night on the couch.

Does this mean, she has to sit on the floor?
 
I worked with a guy that had a glass eye due to cancer. I couldn't tell it wasn't real. But then, I'm not very observant.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Awesome. Just won a bet with the wife.

I will enjoy this all night on the couch.

LOL!

Evo said:
I worked with a guy that had a glass eye due to cancer. I couldn't tell it wasn't real. But then, I'm not very observant.

I've seen an episode on some show about how glass eyes are made, and it's AMAZING the amount of detail that goes into making them to really match the person's remaining eye. Before that, I never realized that every one of them is custom-made with the details painted in from a photo of the person's good eye. The only thing that would really make it obvious it was a glass eye is that the size of the pupil would remain fixed...that might be a little weird if you met someone in a low-lit location like a bar with one pupil fully dilated and the other still small.
 
Moonbear said:
LOL!
I've seen an episode on some show about how glass eyes are made, and it's AMAZING the amount of detail that goes into making them to really match the person's remaining eye.
I think I've seen such a show too.

But I was specifically interested in whether glass eyes can move realistically in concert with the real eye.
 
  • #10
i assume the fake eye on their page is the right one, since i can only see the pink fold (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gray1205.png" ) on the left. but it is really well done, and not something you'd notice unless maybe you're looking for it.

http://www.ioi.com/default5.htm
 
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  • #11
So how would this glass eye work?
The lens ... the pupil controlling how much light passes though .. if the pupil does not dilate like a previous poster mentioned, doesn't that mean that the vision is sometimes brighter?...
 
  • #12
BL4CKCR4Y0NS said:
So how would this glass eye work?
The lens ... the pupil controlling how much light passes though .. if the pupil does not dilate like a previous poster mentioned, doesn't that mean that the vision is sometimes brighter?...

Glass eyes are non-functional; they are purely aesthetic. The wearer cannot see with them, so any issue of how much light they let in is a non-starter.

So far, state of the art in glass eyes include the following:
- exquisite attention to detail in customization of colour, pupil size, etc. to match good eye
- attachment of muscles to the glass eye so that its motion mimics the good eye
 
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  • #13
Moonbear said:
The only thing that would really make it obvious it was a glass eye is that the size of the pupil would remain fixed...that might be a little weird if you met someone in a low-lit location like a bar with one pupil fully dilated and the other still small.

david-bowie-169.jpg
 
  • #14
DaveC426913 said:
Glass eyes are non-functional; they are purely aesthetic. The wearer cannot see with them, so any issue of how much light they let in is a non-starter.

So far, state of the art in glass eyes include the following:
- exquisite attention to detail in customization of colour, pupil size, etc. to match good eye
- attachment of muscles to the glass eye so that its motion mimics the good eye

Which makes me wonder. Why is it so hard to make a functional glass eye? Wikipedia has two long articles on eye implants, one about nonfunctional glass eyes, the other about high-tech visual implants, which apparently take forms of externally worn cameras and electrodes. Surely there are many blind people with functioning retinas, they could use much simpler eye prostheses.
 
  • #15
DaveC426913 said:
Awesome. Just won a bet with the wife.

I will enjoy this all night on the couch.


Let that be a lesson to all, never make a bet with your wife that you know you're going to win. Tis better to make bets you know you're going to lose, then be gracious, pay up and enjoy the benefits...
 
  • #16
hamster143 said:
Surely there are many blind people with functioning retinas, they could use much simpler eye prostheses.

For sure it depends on the amount of damage to other parts of the eye and so on, but my father-in-law had the lens in the eye replaced with an artifical implant. In a way that's what you are talking about.

Edit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraocular_lens
 
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