After nearly two years of minimal detail, some tech world P.R. and much discussion, dating back to VM’s own Leadership Summit in 2014, Opternative’s online “eye test,” which they refer to as a “refractive eye exam,” launched in 27 states late last month.

By using a computer and a smartphone, consumers register on the site, take a 25-minute test and within 24 hours receive a prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses, based on the algorithms of the software and an ophthalmologist’s analysis. Consumers are walked through a series of visual and multiple-choice question tests. Their audio response is recorded via the smartphone.

Have you taken the Opternative test yet? You should go through it, if you haven’t yet. You should see the process, read the language and examine the disclaimer language throughout.

The AOA and other outraged, experienced, accredited eyecare professionals are already filing legal complaints and encouraging serious scrutiny of this new technology-enabled approach. Social media posts to their patients among ECPs are going out— and hopefully these will continue— reminding people what “comprehensive” eye exams are really all about.

Our own Jobson Research QUICK POLL, sent to the broad Jobson optical database the day after the debut, generated more than a 1,000 responses in 24 hours and illustrated definitive concern and dismay, with nearly 80 percent of respondents saying they were “very”concerned and another 15 percent reporting they were “somewhat” concerned that such remote refraction services could cause patients to miss out or postpone a comprehensive eye exam.

Technology is wonderful. We’ve featured much of it in these physical and online VM pages as we expand our coverage of new ideas and new digital potential.

Technology offers tremendous promise in extending the reach of an autorefractor into the great wide open and bringing some semblance of refraction to millions of people. Yet, something about this latest debut feels unclear, confused and...off. This seems to be intentionally confusing the issue of real eyecare and real eyewear safety under the guise of “access” and “game changing” claims.

This is not the time for turf wars. This is exactly a time for the vision care field to unify and strengthen its messages about the huge value of a real and comprehensive eye exam.

maxelrad@jobson.com