1001 Optometry has launched Magnif-eye, a free, innovative AI-powered tool designed to help Australian parents spot potential indicators of childhood myopia.
Magnif-eye turns the family camera roll into a proactive health tool. Parents are guided to select several photos of their child, which the AI then scans for potential visual cues of myopia. The tool is not a replacement for clinical diagnostic tests with registered optometrists, but does provide initial, reassuring feedback, and depending on the results, recommends next steps for optometrist care.
Developed with privacy at its core, Magnif-eye deletes all photos immediately after analysis.* Images are processed on secure servers in Australia and are never stored, shared or viewed by any person, ensuring family memories remain completely private.
This tool is a vital first step. It gives parents an accessible way to check for potential signs they might otherwise miss
Edward Lee, Retail and Optometry Director at 1001 Optometry, said the tool was developed to empower parents and promote proactive eye health and care.
“We know that every parent’s phone is a treasure trove of memories, filled with thousands of pictures of their children. That camera roll can be a powerful, preventative health tool,” Mr Lee said. “Here at 1001 Optometry, we want to start the conversation about myopia earlier and change the trajectory of children’s eye health in Australia by getting them into an optometrist’s chair sooner. And because a comprehensive eye exam can be bulk-billed through Medicare, it’s an accessible next step for every family.”
Margaret Lam, Head of Optometry and Professional Services at 1001 Optometry, stressed the clinical importance of early detection.
“As an optometrist, one of the most worrying trends we are seeing is the earlier onset of myopia in children. Early onset often means faster progression, which significantly increases the risk of more serious eye conditions like glaucoma, cataracts, and retinal detachment later in life. This tool is a vital first step. It gives parents an accessible way to check for potential signs they might otherwise miss. An early conversation with an optometrist can lead to interventions that manage and slow the progression of myopia, safeguarding a child’s vision for the future.”
The Magnif-eye is now available to access by visiting magnifeye.com.au.
*Images are sent to 1001 Optometry’s secure and proprietary AI stack, built in part on external Gemini 3 Flash Preview and MediaPipe’s FaceLandmarker AI cloud instances, for analysis and response. These external services treat the images exclusively as transient data streams, and do not persistently store customer-provided image data beyond the real-time processing transaction, nor do they use any of the images for data training.
