Accommodative Stimulus-Response Curve with Emoji Symbols

PURPOSE To evaluate the static measurement of the accommodative stimulus-response curve with emoji symbols. METHODS The accommodative stimulus-response curve was measured in 18 subjects using a Hartmann-Shack sensor to obtain the objective accommodative response from the Zernike defocus term. Measurements were acquired at different accommodative demands, from 0 to 3 D with a step of 0.5 D. Detailed and nondetailed emoji targets were used with two different sizes, corresponding to the two most common visual angles used in smartphones. RESULTS A regression analysis was performed to fit the mean results obtained for each target. The determination coefficient was R2 ≥ 0.988 for all targets. For the detailed targets, the slopes for the averaged stimulus-response curve were 0.65 and 0.66 for the bigger and smaller sizes, respectively. For the nondetailed targets, the slopes were 0.60 and 0.58 for the bigger and smaller sizes, respectively. p values for these slopes were statistically significant for the two types of targets (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS Our results reveal that the replacement of a word or several words by detailed or nondetailed emoji symbols seems not to provoke a different accommodative response in normal subjects and under standard viewing conditions in the use of smartphones.