# AI-powered virtual eye: perspective, challenges and opportunities

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.05516 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.05516/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 119 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 7 May 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [Empowering Biomedical Discovery with AI Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.02831/) (2024)
- [MMedAgent: Learning to Use Medical Tools with Multi-modal Agent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.02483/) (2024)
- [Merge, Ensemble, and Cooperate! A Survey on Collaborative Strategies in the Era of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.06089/) (2024)
- [EyeFound: A Multimodal Generalist Foundation Model for Ophthalmic Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.11338/) (2024)
- [EyeCLIP: A visual-language foundation model for multi-modal ophthalmic image analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.06644/) (2024)
- [EyeDiff: text-to-image diffusion model improves rare eye disease diagnosis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.10004/) (2024)
- [Fundus2Globe: Generative AI-Driven 3D Digital Twins for Personalized Myopia Management](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.13182/) (2025)
- [Extracting Inter-Protein Interactions Via Multitasking Graph Structure Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.17589/) (2025)
- [3D Growth and Remodeling Theory Supports the Hypothesis of Staphyloma Formation from Local Scleral Weakening under Normal Intraocular Pressure](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.03330/) (2024)
- [FFA Sora, video generation as fundus fluorescein angiography simulator](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.17346/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We envision the "virtual eye" as a next-generation, AI-powered platform that uses interconnected foundation models to simulate the eye's intricate structure and biological function across all scales. Advances in AI, imaging, and multiomics provide a fertile ground for constructing a universal, high-fidelity digital replica of the human eye. This perspective traces the evolution from early mechanistic and rule-based models to contemporary AI-driven approaches, integrating in a unified model with multimodal, multiscale, dynamic predictive capabilities and embedded feedback mechanisms. We propose a development roadmap emphasizing the roles of large-scale multimodal datasets, generative AI, foundation models, agent-based architectures, and interactive interfaces. Despite challenges in interpretability, ethics, data processing and evaluation, the virtual eye holds the potential to revolutionize personalized ophthalmic care and accelerate research into ocular health and disease.