ASCRS Binkhorst Lecture 2004

Wavefront technology and wavefront-based vision correction are major advances but will not, in isolation, achieve the goal of perfect vision. Study of the animal kingdom teaches lessons of adaptation, leading to the conclusion that the human visual system is probably optimized for our ancestral hunter-gatherers, but today's visual demands have developed faster than the pace of evolution. Psychophysical studies of perception emphasize the importance of the visual processing system in the totality of visual function, with application today in areas such as multifocal intraocular lenses. The goal of “perfect vision” is more than optimized optics. A better understanding of visual function can be achieved only by a cooperative effort of ophthalmologists, vision scientists, and psychophysicists.