Description

Subject of the Challenge

The National Eye Institute (NEI) announces the Vision Function Challenge: Advancing Beyond Acuity, a prize competition designed to stimulate the development of innovative, scalable, and clinically meaningful approaches for assessing visual function beyond traditional visual acuity testing.

Visual acuity has long served as the foundation of vision assessment; however, it represents only one aspect of how individuals function in their daily lives. Important dimensions of visual function include contrast sensitivity, dynamic vision, depth perception, glare sensitivity, low-light performance, functional vision, and patient-reported visual function, all of which are often measured inconsistently or not at all. As a result, existing approaches may not adequately capture the real-world visual experiences of patients or provide comprehensive information to support clinical care, research, or public health.

Advances in digital health, wearable technologies, artificial intelligence, imaging, mobile computing, and patient-centered outcome measurement have created an unprecedented opportunity to rethink how visual function is assessed.

The Vision Function Challenge seeks innovative solutions that move beyond traditional paradigms by integrating multiple dimensions of visual function into standardized, interpretable, and scalable assessment approaches. Solutions may leverage advances in digital health technologies, artificial intelligence, multimodal sensing, imaging, wearable devices, patient-reported outcomes, or other emerging methodologies to generate clinically meaningful measures of visual function.

Participants are encouraged to develop solutions that:

• Assess multiple dimensions of visual function beyond visual acuity.
• Capture real-world visual performance and patient experience.
• Generate clinically meaningful outputs that support diagnosis, monitoring, and clinical decision-making.
• Integrate multimodal sources of information, including behavioral, physiologic, imaging, environmental, or patient-reported data, where appropriate.
• Support implementation across clinical, community, and remote care settings.
• Enable integration with electronic health records, digital health technologies, and research platforms.
• Promote accessibility, scalability, and usability across diverse populations.

Ultimately, the Challenge seeks to catalyze a new generation of comprehensive visual function assessment approaches that improve vision research, support patient-centered care, enable standardized data collection, and establish a foundation for future advances in clinical practice, regulatory science, and biomedical research. By moving beyond traditional visual acuity measurement, the Challenge aims to redefine how visual function is assessed and understood across the vision research and clinical care continuum.

Statuatory Authority to Conduct the Challenge

NEI is conducting this Challenge under the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (COMPETES) Reauthorization Act of 2010, as amended (15 U.S.C. § 3719).

This Challenge aligns with the NEI mission to eliminate vision loss and improve quality of life through vision research. By stimulating innovation in comprehensive visual function assessment, the Challenge seeks to accelerate the development of clinically meaningful, patient-centered approaches that better characterize how individuals see and function in the real world. These advances have the potential to improve clinical decision-making, strengthen vision research, support regulatory science, and enable more comprehensive and standardized assessment of visual function across diverse populations and care settings.

Timeline

The Vision Function Challenge will be conducted over approximately 20 months and will consist of two components:

• Submission Phase: Participants will submit a comprehensive concept, prototype, or framework describing their proposed approach, supporting evidence, validation strategy, and implementation plan.
• Finalist Demonstration and Validation Event: Following review of the written submissions, selected finalist teams will be invited to participate in an NIH-hosted demonstration event. Finalists will present and demonstrate their solutions and engage with NIH staff, external experts, and stakeholders to further evaluate validation readiness, clinical relevance, implementation potential, and scalability.

Milestone	Date
Challenge Launch	September 1, 2026
Mandatory Registration (Intent to Participate)	June 11, 2027
Phase 1 Submission Portal Opens	August 9, 2027
Phase 1 Submission Deadline	September 10, 2027
Administrative Review	September 13–17, 2027
Technical Review and Judging	September 20 – December 17, 2027
Finalists Announced & Phase 2 Opens	January 2028
Phase 2 Finalist Demonstration & Validation Event	Spring 2028
Challenge Winners Announced	Spring 2028

Prizes

Amount of the Prize

NEI will award a total of up to $1,000,000 in cash prizes in this Challenge as indicated below.

Finalist Awards

• 5 Finalists: $20,000 each = $100,000

Grand Prizes

• 1^st Place: $500,000
• 2^nd Place: $300,000
• 3^rd Place: $100,000

Award Approving Official

The Award Approving Official will be the Director of the National Eye Institute, Dr. Michael Chiang.

Payment of the Prize

Prizes awarded under this Challenge will be paid by electronic funds transfer and may be subject to federal income taxes. HHS/NIH will comply with the Internal Revenue Service withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable. Entities participating in this Challenge are encouraged, but not required, to request and obtain a free Unique Entity ID (UEI), if they have not already done so, via SAM.gov as this will expedite prize payment. Additional information can be found on the registration page.

NIH/NEI reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (a) cancel, suspend, or modify the Challenge, or any part of it, for any reason, and/or (b) not award any prizes if no submissions are deemed worthy.

Rules

Eligibility Rules

To be eligible to win a prize under this Challenge, a Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity):

1. Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as published in this announcement;
2. Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement;
3. In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. However, non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents can participate as a member of a team that otherwise satisfies the eligibility criteria. Non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible to win a monetary prize (in whole or in part). Their participation as part of a winning team, if applicable, may be recognized when the results are announced.
4. Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment;
5. Shall not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity;
6. Who is employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS), should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge;
7. Shall not be a judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, step-parent, child, or step-child).
8. Shall be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission.

Participation Rules

1. Participants (whether individuals, groups of individuals, or entities) may not use federal funds from a grant award or cooperative agreement to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions unless use of such funds is consistent with the purpose, terms, and conditions of the grant award or cooperative agreement. Participants intending to use federal grant or cooperative agreement funds must register for and participate in the challenge on behalf of the awardee institution, organization, or entity. If a Participant uses federal grant or cooperative agreement funds and wins the Challenge, the prize must be treated as program income for purposes of the original grant or cooperative agreement in accordance with applicable Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR § 200).
2. Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
3. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) agrees to assume any and all risks and waive claims against the federal government and its related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.
4. Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, no Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance, or demonstrate financial responsibility, or agree to indemnify the federal government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities in order to participate in this Challenge.
5. A Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis.
6. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) warrants that they are sole author or owner of, or has the right to use, any copyrightable works that the submission comprises, that the works are wholly original with the Participant (or is an improved version of an existing work that the Participant has sufficient rights to use and improve), and that the submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant is aware.
7. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) selected as a winner at any point in this Challenge grants to the NIH an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free, nonexclusive, worldwide license to reproduce, publish, post, link to, share, and publicly display the submission Title, Executive Summary, and Graphical Summary for purposes of administering, promoting, and reporting on the Challenge. Only winning submissions will have their content publicly posted. This license does not extend to the Participant's full submission, underlying methods, software, data, inventions, or other intellectual property. Each Participant will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable. To participate in the Challenge, each Participant must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participants will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to NIH, but Participants must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein.
8. Each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies.
9. Each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.
10. As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) that has been selected as a winner must complete and submit all requested winner verification and payment documents to NIH within 30 business days of formal notification. Failure to return all required verification documents by the date specified in the notification may be a basis for disqualification of a cash prize winning submission.

Evaluation and Judging Process

All submissions will first undergo an administrative review conducted by NEI staff to verify eligibility, completeness, and compliance with the Challenge rules and submission requirements. Submissions that do not meet the eligibility requirements or comply with the submission instructions may be disqualified from further consideration.

Eligible submissions will then be evaluated by an independent panel of subject matter experts with relevant scientific, technical, clinical, engineering, implementation, and/or commercialization expertise. Panel members may include both federal employees and non-federal experts, as appropriate. All evaluators will be required to disclose any real or perceived conflicts of interest and will be recused from evaluating submissions where a conflict exists.

Each eligible submission will be independently evaluated against the published judging criteria described below. For each criterion, evaluators will assign a numerical score based on the associated point allocation and provide written comments to support their assessments.

Evaluators should assess each judging criterion using the published scoring scale, assigning scores that reflect the extent to which the submission satisfies the intent of that criterion, rather than whether a particular feature is simply present or absent.

Following the initial technical evaluation, the highest-scoring submissions may advance to a Finalist Demonstration and Validation Event. During this in-person event, finalists will present and demonstrate their solutions and respond to questions from the judging panel. Judges may consider the quality of the demonstration, prototype functionality, validation readiness, usability, implementation potential, and responses to technical questions, in addition to the written submission, when determining the final rankings.

Following the demonstration event, a Final Judging Panel, composed of federal employees, will review the evaluation results and recommend winners to the Award Approving Official. In making its recommendations, the panel will consider the written submission, demonstration performance, implementation readiness, and overall alignment with the objectives of the Challenge.

The Award Approving Official will make the final award determinations. All decisions of the Award Approving Official are final and are not subject to appeal.

Phase 1: Integrated Solution Development

Submissions will be evaluated using the following criteria.

1. Clinical Relevance and Functional Impact (20%)
   To what extent does the solution...
   • Address real-world vision needs and patient experiences?
   • Capture meaningful aspects of visual function beyond traditional visual acuity?
   • Demonstrate the potential to improve clinical care, patient outcomes, or vision research?
2. Innovation and Conceptual Advancement (15%)
   How effectively does the solution...
   • Advance beyond existing paradigms for assessing visual function?
   • Introduce novel concepts, methodologies, or technologies?
   • Challenge or improve current approaches in meaningful ways?
3. Comprehensiveness and Integration (15%)
   How well does the solution...
   • Integrate multiple dimensions of visual function?
   • Present a cohesive and comprehensive assessment framework?
   • Capture the complexity of visual performance in everyday life?
4. Technical Feasibility and Approach (10%)
   How well does the solution...
   • Demonstrate technical feasibility?
   • Present a realistic pathway toward development or implementation?
   • Reflect sound scientific and engineering principles?
5. Real-World Applicability (10%)
   To what extent does the solution...
   • Reflect real-world visual demands?
   • Demonstrate potential for use in clinical, home, or community settings?
   • Address practical considerations for end users?
6. Scalability and Accessibility (10%)
   How likely is the solution to...
   • Scale across diverse populations and healthcare settings?
   • Promote accessibility and equitable use?
   • Be adaptable to future applications?
7. Digital Integration and Data Utility (10%)
   How effectively does the solution...
   • Generate meaningful and actionable data?
   • Integrate with electronic health records, research platforms, or other digital systems?
   • Support future research, analytics, or clinical decision-making?
8. Validation Strategy (5%)
   How well does the solution...
   • Present a credible and scientifically sound validation strategy?
   • Demonstrate appropriate plans for evaluating performance and reliability?
9. Implementation Potential (5%)
   How likely is the solution to...
   • Be successfully adopted in clinical, research, or community settings?
   • Support future development, refinement, or commercialization?

Phase 2: Finalist Demonstration and Validation Event

Finalists will be evaluated on the demonstrated performance of their solution, validation readiness, and potential for real-world implementation.

1. Demonstration Quality and Functionality (25%)
   How effectively does the demonstration...
   • Demonstrate that the solution performs as described?
   • Clearly communicate the functionality and intended use of the solution?
   • Illustrate its value in realistic use scenarios?
2. Clinical Relevance and Interpretability (20%)
   To what extent does the solution...
   • Produce clinically meaningful and interpretable outputs?
   • Support clinical or research decision-making?
   • Address meaningful vision-related challenges encountered by patients?
3. Feasibility and Usability (15%)
   How well does the solution...
   • Demonstrate practical implementation within intended settings?
   • Provide an intuitive and effective user experience?
   • Minimize burden on patients, providers, or researchers?
4. Validation Progress and Supporting Evidence (15%)
   How convincingly does the solution...
   • Demonstrate progress toward rigorous validation?
   • Present credible supporting evidence or preliminary validation results?
   • Establish confidence in future validation efforts?
5. Implementation and Scalability Potential (15%)
   How likely is the solution to...
   • Be successfully implemented in real-world environments?
   • Scale across populations, healthcare systems, and research settings?
   • Integrate into existing workflows and technologies?
6. Responsiveness to Questions and Feedback (10%)
   How effectively does the individual/team/entity...
   • Respond to questions from the judging panel?
   • Demonstrate understanding of strengths, limitations, and future directions?
   • Incorporate and thoughtfully address feedback?

How to Enter

Registration and Submission Process

Mandatory Registration: To be eligible to participate, individuals, teams, and entities must submit a completed Challenge Registration Form to [email protected] by 5:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on June 11, 2027. Registration instructions and a link to the registration form will be provided on this page at a later date.

Registration Categories

• Individual – Registering on behalf of yourself. To be eligible for a cash prize, the Individual must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Team – Registering as a group of individuals competing together but not on behalf of an established organization, institution, or corporation. Each Team must designate a Team Captain who will register and submit on behalf of the team members. The Team Captain will serve as the primary point of contact and, if selected as a winner, will receive the prize on behalf of the Team. To be eligible to receive a cash prize, the Team Captain must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
• Entity – Registering on behalf of an established organization, institution, company, or other legal entity. Each Entity must identify a Point of Contact who will register and submit on behalf of the Entity and be responsible for all communications with NIH. If selected as a winner, prize payments will be made directly to the Entity. To be eligible for a cash prize, the Entity must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States.

Submission Requirements: Completed submission packages must be submitted electronically to [email protected] no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) on September 10, 2027. Participants should submit a comprehensive proposal describing an innovative approach for assessing visual function beyond traditional visual acuity testing.

Each submission package should include the following:

1. Executive Summary (Maximum 2 pages) A concise overview of the proposed solution, including:
   • Submission Title
   • Vision problem or unmet need being addressed
   • Key innovation(s)
   • Dimensions of visual function assessed
   • Intended users and use settings
   • Expected impact on patient care, vision research, or public health
2. Graphical Summary (Maximum 1 page) Participants should provide a single-page visual summary of their proposed solution suitable for a broad scientific audience. The graphical summary should clearly communicate:
   • The problem being addressed
   • The proposed approach
   • Key innovation(s)
   • Visual function domains assessed
   • Expected impact on clinical care, research, or public health
   • The graphical summary may include diagrams, workflows, conceptual illustrations, figures, or other visual elements. It should be understandable as a standalone overview of the proposed solution.
3. Technical Proposal (Maximum 12 pages) Describe the proposed solution, including:
   • Scientific rationale
   • Technical methodology
   • Description of the technology or assessment framework
   • Visual function domains being measured
   • Data sources (behavioral, physiologic, imaging, environmental, patient-reported outcomes, etc.)
   • Algorithms or analytical methods, if applicable
   • Expected advantages over existing approaches
   • Known limitations
4. Intended Use Cases Describe the settings in which the solution is designed to operate, such as:
   • Clinical care
   • Community screening
   • Home monitoring
   • Telehealth
   • Clinical trials
   • Population health
   • Research studies
5. Prototype or Proof-of-Concept Materials (Optional but Encouraged) Examples include:
   • Demonstration videos
   • Wireframes
   • Screenshots
   • Mock-ups
   • Software prototypes
   • Hardware designs
   • System architecture diagrams
6. Validation Strategy Describe how the proposed solution will ultimately be evaluated.
   • Participants are encouraged to discuss:
   • Clinical validity
   • Technical performance
   • Repeatability and reproducibility
   • Comparison with existing assessment methods
   • Human factors and usability
   • Real-world performance
   • Statistical evaluation methods
7. Implementation and Scalability Plan (Maximum 3 pages) Describe:
   • Pathway toward clinical implementation
   • Scalability across populations and care settings
   • Integration with electronic health records and digital health platforms
   • Accessibility considerations
   • Regulatory considerations, if applicable
   • Long-term sustainability
8. Participant Qualifications Provide:
   • Team/entity members, as applicable
   • Relevant expertise
   • Prior experience
   • Key institutional/organizational capabilities

Finalist Demonstration and Evaluation Event

Following the written evaluation, up to five finalists will be selected to participate in an NIH-hosted Finalist Demonstration and Validation Event. This in-person event will be held on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, and finalists are expected to use a portion of their finalist prize funds to support their travel expenses.

During the event, finalists will present and demonstrate their solutions while engaging with NIH staff, external experts, and other stakeholders. These presentations will provide an opportunity to further assess each solution's technical performance, validation readiness, clinical relevance, implementation potential, and scalability.

Additional information regarding the event logistics, schedule, presentation format, and evaluation process will be provided to the selected finalists.

Finalists will be invited to:

• Present and demonstrate their proposed solution before an NIH judging panel.
• Demonstrate, as appropriate, software, hardware, algorithms, dashboards, simulation environments, prototype devices, workflows, or other proof-of-concept capabilities.
• Present preliminary validation data or an updated validation strategy, if available.
• Describe implementation pathways, scalability, and anticipated barriers to adoption.
• Participate in a question-and-answer session with NIH staff and external subject matter experts.

The Finalist Demonstration and Validation Event is intended to provide judges with additional insight into the scientific merit, technical feasibility, usability, validation readiness, implementation potential, and real-world applicability of each solution. Information presented during the demonstration may be considered, together with the written submission, in determining the final Challenge winners.

Additional Information

NIH anticipates that solutions emerging from this Challenge may help inform future research, standards development, clinical evaluation, and regulatory science. Selection as a winner does not constitute NIH endorsement or FDA approval.

Contact

For further information, contact Amberlynn Reed at [email protected].