We have recently received several inquiries about "grid glasses", if they can improve the stereopsis or vision in relief and, as it is a subject that is probably not known by most people and before they become fashionable, we want to give a little information about it.

Mesh glasses are not something new, they became fashionable in the 80s, but as a complement to the look that a certain group of people showed. Here you have some sample of what I tell you:

80's Fashion Mesh Glasses

Types of 80s wireframe glasses

Along with these mesh glasses, purely for decoration, another type has appeared that also falls under the concept of "mesh glasses", glasses intended for sports, to protect the eyes. It is a frame with a plastic or metallic grid instead of crystals, as shown in the figure, intended for athletes to protect themselves from a possible blow in the eyes, or for games that simulate a war (pintboll), where guns are used that shoot rubber balls that can cause damage if they hit directly in the face. The truth is that in Europe they have not become very popular and there are even federations that prohibit them for use in competitions.

Mesh goggles for protection

The third type of "grid glasses" and the one that is of greatest interest to us, on the subject of whether they can improve vision, are glasses that instead of crystals have a black mask with multiple small holes from 0.3 to 0.5 mm, as seen in the figures, so that by looking through these holes we improve near and far vision, eliminating the need to use prescription glasses while improving visual conditions even when removing the glasses, as if it were an exercise that strengthens vision and therefore improves visual acuity.

glasses with holes

glasses with holes

Detail of the holes in glasses

It is true that one sees better with these glasses, but that as a result of their use, vision improves in general and that their use is therefore recommended, is something else. When we put on these glasses and look through their holes, what we are doing is taking advantage of what is known as the "pinhole effect", which consists of letting light rays enter the eye that arrive perpendicular to the retina and concentrated in its central region, the taint, area of ​​greatest concentration of cones and that allows maximum visual quality.

pinhole effect

Anyone can experience this effect easily, just look through a small hole and we will immediately notice that we see better, at any distance, even people who need glasses, as we see in the figure, blurred in the left image and focused on the right. look through a pinhole in the right image.

Blurry picture

Focused image thanks to a pinhole system

The glasses with the pinhole holes have been refined to the point of having holes of different size and arrangement depending on whether they are for far vision or near vision. The truth is that if we put them on, we will see better what we want to focus, but the peripheral vision is canceled, that's why it looks better, however peripheral vision is necessary for most activities in daily life, especially for tasks that vision in motion is required, such as driving, walking or any type of outdoor sports, so this type of glasses are not recommended, we could suffer an accident.

For those who suffer the most, willing to make all kinds of sacrifices for the sake of visual improvement, tampI do not encourage you to use it. Its routine use has not been shown in any study to be a beneficial stimulus for the visual apparatus.

As we can see, when you are asked or someone suggests the use of mesh glasses, this type of glasses that we have just discussed, you can answer, no thanks, I know that they do not provide any positive effect and that there are currently much more effective systems to see right.

Summary

Article name

Stereopsis: Goggles

Description

Can mesh glasses improve stereopsis or vision in relief or is it recommended to squint the eyes to focus better? Find out in this article.

Author

Área Oftalmológica Avanzada

Name of the editor

Área Oftalmológica Avanzada

Editor's logo