The Whole Enchilada : For The home

Are you worried about you child's eyesight? Plano is the answer

By Gaylen KaSai - Monday, January 28, 2019

I have had perfect eyesight ever since I was a child until recently I started to realize that myvisions are somewhat blurry so I decided to go and get my eyesight checked. To my disbelief I actually had a vision problem, I hated it but I had to accept the fact that my perfect eyesight is gone and I had to wear glasses/lenses. I started to think how did my eyesight deteriorate over the years, what did I do these few years that I previously did not. I narrowed it to one thing; mobile phones. Truth is I seldom use/play with my phone until the recent 5 years, until Social Media Platforms and shopping sites got me hooked on my phone like a child and candy.

This got me thinking, if my eyesight could deteriorate just like that. Children today have mobile phones and iPads’ at a young age of 2. Yes, I am guilty as charged. Vegas and Heiley both have their own mobile phones. I try to control screen time for them but sometimes it is out of my control. I am even more so worried when Vegas’s insist on holding the mobile phone so close to his face that I had to actually place the mobile phone on a tripod and put it further from his crib when he is watching his nightly nursery rhymes

I started googling and trying to look for an app that could assist me in this, I found several apps but most of them weren’t helpful until I found plano. plano is an app that was release by Singapore Eye Research Institute-Singapore National Eye Centre Ophthalmic Technologies Incubator Programme and it seeks to address myopia among the young. Myopia is layman terms would be short-sightedness /near-nearsightedness and according to recent research the rate is growing in recent years for children and that rate is an alarming one. Myopia might appear to many as heredity but the fact is unknown, take myself for example both my parents are short sighted, and so are my siblings since they were in high school. Me? I only developed them in the recent months and I am in my mid 30’s. I blame the phone and myself for my eyesight today. Lol

What is plano? plano is an app that could be downloaded on iOs and Android devices. This app is used to keep track of Vegas and Heiley’s smartphones usage and habits. I use this app to monitor the frequency and length of time the kids spent on their mobile phones, and distance the kids are holding their smartphone. plano is even able to remind Heiley to take breaks and to move the smartphone further and what I love most is that I am able to use plano to shut down their devices

Screen Reads: Thanks for Resting your eyes. Rest for an additional 5 minutes for a bonus 100 points

How to use plano? First you have to download the app on your child’s device. You can find the plano app on the Apple Store [iOs] and Play Store [Android]. Follow the prompt and key in your details and add child’s details. Remember your username and password as you can download this on several devices, I have downloaded it on both the kids smartphone as they do not use my phone for their. All you have to do is turn on child mode and allow your child to use the smartphone, plano would prompt the child if the environment is too dark or the phone is too near. The kids could also gain points by playing Plano’s games and trade their points to customized their plano mascot which I find rather cute. I am the one who ends up playing these little games.

Screens Reads: Stop now for a bonus 100 points [ These points are then used to exchange for items to customized the Mascot ]

plano doesn’t just try and correct the child's behaviour that is believe to lead to myopia but it hopes to detect it too by incorporating a screening tool for myopia which can assist in early detection of decreased vision in the child. You will be provided with easy to understand weekly/monthly reports to assist in improving device use behavior of your child. This is important because it is better to detect early

I personally love this app for Heiley because I really could monitor her screen time now, and I know she is safe as she the distance of her and the mobile phone is good,, however when it comes to Vegas it is a little annoying for me because he can’t read or really understand yet since he is only 2 and will come running to me every time a pop-up screen appears and goes ‘Mummy!’ so yes, I am still teaching him what each pop-up screen means. I will be subscribing to the LITE version where it allows me to have up to the Health Plus plan. Every family gets a 30 day trial of the full functions so you can try out all the premium features! How awesome is that.

Try it today to see if this app works for you and your loved ones. The Free version excludes the following functions

> Monthly eye progress tracking [ Useful for parents to track and catch early signs of vision problem]

> Push notifications to parents for incorrect device use [ You will be prompted of your child’s usage ]

> Set safe area for device use [ Meal times are not device friendly]

> App locking [ Useful if you are sharing devices with your child]

> Remotely lock device [ Very useful for toddlers as they can’t read well yet so the app can be auto locked ]

I would highly recommend parents to download this app and try it for yourself. I am really loving this app even tho in the beginning I was skeptical and the kids are actually taking this pretty well, for Heiley there is much more play time now compared to before Plano. For more information check out the links below:-

Website: https://www.plano.co/index

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plano.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planoapp/
Check this video from plano to understand more about it