I took a 90-second eye exam at CES 2025, and the results were surprisingly accurate

Getting regular eye exams is a good practice for maintaining good vision. However, doing so requires setting aside time to visit an eye doctor, a luxury many people don't have. Eyebot hopes to change that by introducing the option of a 90-second, self-serve eye exam. 

With so many exhibitors, it's difficult to stand out on the CES show floor, but the Eyebot booth had a line nearly every day, with people buzzing to get their eye exam in. The concept is simple: users walk up to a kiosk, follow the prompts, and within 90 seconds, get a tele-doctor-approved prescription.

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Sound to good to be true? I gave it a try for myself, and the four-step experience was as seamless as it sounds. 

When you first walk up to the kiosk, called the S1 Terminal, you are walked through a series of questions, such as whether you are wearing contacts or glasses, what type of glasses you are wearing, and whether you are happy with your current prescription. 

Then, it comes time for the letter test, which is much like your typical eye chart letter exam. However, the kiosk's screen shows a circle with letters on the screen, which shows smaller letters every time, and you can type in the order of letters you see. 

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For step three, you place your current glasses in a tray, if you wearing any, so that it can determine your current prescription. When walking me through the demo, CEO Matthias Hofmann explained that this was necessary because doctors never want to increase a prescription too drastically. 

Finally, for step four, you are asked to focus on a object in the distance so the machine can take your eye measurements. Then using all that information, in seconds, it is able to load your eye prescription. Mine showed a .25 difference from the prescription I last got when I went to the eye doctor's office, proving how accurate it is as the .25 difference would be extremely minimal.

To deliver the prescription, the S1 Scanner uses AI algorithms that were trained on medical data, as well as tele-doctors that review every test session and use the patient data collected by the kiosk to craft a final prescription. Hofmann shared that the tele-doctors review the AI algorithms' predictions, and with every adjustment the doctor makes, the algorithm also learns more, making them increasingly accurate. 

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When I asked Hoffman whether users can opt out of having their eye exam results used for further training the AI, Hofmann said not right now, but that may be possible in the future. 

For users who want a doctor-signed prescription, Eyebot also offers that option for $20, which Hofmann explained was comparable to a co-pay, plus the added convenience of doing it quickly and whenever you'd like. The Eyebot technology is FDA-registered and listed, and multiple IRB‑approved clinical studies have been completed, according to the site. 

The plan for rollout is for Eyebot to work with optical retailers, leasing them the kiosks so that users who visit those stores can experience quick, free eye exams. Retailers can benefit by serving more customers more quickly without having an eye doctor on site and having a tele-doctor available at all times via the kiosk.