FoFo | Ashish Jain Design

Give the

Gift of sight

Credits

Designed at CFTI, LVPEI

My Role: Product and Project Lead

Research, Industrial Design, UX Design, Clinical Validation, Program management, Manufacturing Support, Fundraising, Customer relations.

Phases:

Research, design concept, design development, manufacturing support, marketing

(2016-2018)

Awards and Recognition

2016- Clearly Vision Award | Winner | 2nd runner-up $50,000

2017- TEDxGateway showcase

2018- Titan Design Impact Awards | Finalist

2018- Economic Times India- More than meets the eye: A simple, low-cost paper device can tell if you need a pair of glasses

2018- TED fellow blog: The $1 foldable eye-screening kit is here

2019- Yanko Design feature "THE SIMPLEST VISION-TESTING DEVICE EVER MADE"

2020- Dr Kalam Innovation festival, Runner Up, INR 20,000

Main Collaborators:

P. Veerendranath(idea), Dhruv Joshi(collaborator), Sandeep Vempati(engineering), Aadya Krishnaprasad & Adarsh Sehgal(Design), Dr Pavan Verkicharla(Clinical Lead), Amir Ali(Optometrist) , Clinical validation team at LVPEI ,Pragati printers (manufacturing)

Advisors:

Raghu Guallapalli, Dr. Anthony Vipin Das, Dr.Virendra Sangwan, Dr.G.N. Rao, Ramam Atmakuri

Impact stories

FoFo has now reached 18+ countries.

We had an opportunity to share the device prototypes starting very early stages for screening programs, showcasing at events like IAPB and TEDx Gateway, Advocating the idea at Clearly and winning an award of $50,000, testing the device with very prominent NGOs like Global Shapers Bangalore, Bare Foot Nurse project.

Loops of design iterations for ease of assembly

We wanted to send the device to the users in the most cost efficient manner, which was to send it flat, in an envelop. This came with a challenge that the device will have to be assembled by the user for it be ready to use. We went through long-haul of design iterations with design, instructions and validation bringing the assembly of 20+ steps to less than 10. This would ensure that the instructions are simple and can be followed by anybody to assemble the device quickly.

We ensured, the instructions are Familiar to everyday interactions of of flaps in packaging, Each step is logically Consistent and keeping it Simple by reducing the number of steps.

Uncorrected Refractive Error is the largest cause of avoidable blindness in the developing world; causing severe educational, social, and economic impact on the individuals' livelihood. This population with needless blindness can be easily helped with a simple pair of glasses if identified and treated at an early onset.

Unfortunately, the present devices used for measuring refractive errors are bulky, expensive, and need infrastructure and expertise to operate. Therefore, the opportunity of accessible treatment is limited to the clinical settings, where only a fraction of people are assisted.

The Problem

Burden of Uncorrected refractive error👨‍🦯

Our solution

Inspired by advances in paper engineering and design led examples like Foldscope by Dr. Manu Prakash and Google cardboard we designed the Folding Foropter which is a simple paper cut-out that folds around two lenses, forming two tubes that slide in and out of each other. The user then needs to look at a fixed target through the device and slides the tube to see the target clearly. The device has a simple scale that then gives the approximate refractive error.

Democratizing clear vision

Folding Foropter (FoFo) is a novel device developed by the LVPEI Center for Innovation to combat the lack of access to tools for Refractive Error screening in low resource areas. FoFo is quick, affordable, eco-friendly, and easy to use!

2.2 billion

people in the world have a vision impairment or blindness

123.7 million

are visually impaired due to Uncorrected Refractive Error (URE)

90%

live in hard-to-reach areas

A vast majority of people with URE reside in the rural areas of developing countries

Representing power of the eye:

When the user clears the target in front of them, there is a certain distance left between two lenses that representing the optical power of the system, hence the power of eye. A scale was designed to represent the resultant eye power along with the severity scale making it easier to flag the emergency.

Accuracy:

We lab tested and field tested the device against state of the art systems like phoropter and retinoscope. Taking data from over 3000+ subjects the accuracy was mapped to make it a good screening device with ±1 Diopter.

Education:

Through our research we learnt that our users have a very little understanding of numbers. Hence they need a visual representation to empathize with the severity and the kind of refractive error. A visual scale representing the myopia and hyperopia was put along with the number scale to show how might the patient be suffering.

Design elements

The scale

Design elements

The Assembly and Instructions

Flat pack design for Accessibility

We wanted the device to be most accessible hence decided to flatpack the device and send it in an envelope, so that it can reach to remotest village in the most affordable way. It can further be assembled following simple instructions.

Simple illustrative instructions for assembly

We did exhaustive design iterations to simplify the assembly and instructions so that users from village students to less educated ones can assemble it with ease.

Choice of materials

Many prototypes were built iterating with materials and production techniques to ensure all the attributes of accuracy of optical assembly, ease of production, affordability and robustness are achieved.

We worked with production partners to choose the right materials that could help up achieve the desirable usability.

From 3d printed prototype to finally choosing paper

The first prototypes were 3D printed to understand the optical system and define the calibration. Further when paper was chosen to make the design, we went through phases of iterations with manually cutting to laser cutting the key lines on paper to explore the designs. Huge stress was given on keeping tolerances of the paper tubes in such a way that it maintains the optical arrangement and ensures smooth movement of the tubes over many uses.

Key lines and validation

There was a parallel battle between the usability and production constraints. We kept bettering the ease of assembly as we kept validating improved Keylines.

Finally we could achieve the design that is easy to assemble, accurate and robust enough to retain its functionality over 500 uses.