Project Sight

 Team Sight: Prescription Glasses Without a Doctor Team Members: Alexis Iaryczower, Braden Anderson, Katherine Britt, Kathleen Coleman, Patrick Ferris, and Rebecca Scarbrough 

Project Sight focuses on improving access to vision care for children in rural Guatemala and other regions facing similar challenges. By creating a diagnostic tool paired with adjustable, durable pediatric glasses, our team aims to remove one of the major barriers to learning: poor vision.

Our design is a portable diagnostic tool, which includes:

• A simple vision diagnostic tool
• Adjustable pediatric frames that grow with the child

This system enables local community members to diagnose basic refractive errors and provide high-quality glasses—without requiring an optometrist.

Access to eye care is extremely limited in rural Guatemala.

• For every 1 million people, there are only 20 ophthalmologists and 47 optometrists.
• Most specialists are located in cities, making them difficult and expensive to access for rural families.
• At the same time, 90% of children in Guatemala do not complete high school, and untreated vision problems are a major barrier to learning and literacy.
   

Our project addresses this shortage by providing a low-cost, local, and scalable way for communities to meet their own vision needs.

By empowering communities with tools to diagnose prescriptions and distribute high-quality, durable glasses, Project Sight offers:

• Better access to reliable eyewear
• Reduced dependence on distant medical specialists
• More consistent support for children with vision challenges
   

Ultimately, improving a child’s vision improves their ability to learn, read, and succeed in school, positively impacting long-term educational outcomes.

Our solution is grounded in:

• Ethnographic research within rural Guatemalan villages, which highlighted cultural practices, daily routines, and the need for local self-sufficiency
• Market research identifying gaps in current pediatric eyewear options, especially regarding durability, fit, and cost
   

This combination led us to design a system that is both community-friendly and child-friendly.

Our diagnostic kit and glasses offer benefits no existing product provides:

• Compact and affordable tool that tests 36 different prescriptions, covering 96.5% of common near-sighted and far-sighted refractive errors 
• Adjustable and durable pediatric frames that account for:
  • Growing face shapes
  • Everyday wear and tear
  • Harsh rural conditions
• Manufacturing cost under $5, making the glasses accessible at scale
   

This combination of function, affordability, and scalability makes Project Sight uniquely suited for rural, low-resource settings.