VR APP “I Have Low Vision”

Low vision symptoms simulator (loss of visual field, loss of central vision, loss of visual acuity, distortion, patched vision, night blindness, photophobia and reduced contrast sensitivity). Created to be used with Virtual Reality (VR) glasses in order to experience and understand the way people with low vision see the world around themselves.

Low vision is a lesser degree of visual impairment than blindness. It cannot be corrected with eyeglasses or surgery, and may cause people difficulties with normal daily activities. It is much more frequent than blindness, although much more unknown.

Many partially sighted people show no abnormality in the appearance of the eye itself. It is also frequent that a person in some situations may show no difficulty, and in others they require assistance or the use of a white cane.

For many reasons, understanding how a person with low vision sees can be very difficult: due to a lack of awareness, because of the different visual defects, because it’s common to find several symptoms in one person, and because the percentage of vision loss may vary from one to the other.

This application intends to help understand how people with low vision see, to help them understand their difficulties, and teach them to interact with them properly.

It is a useful tool for different low vision specialists (ophthalmologists, optometrists, vision rehabilitation therapists, psychologists, educators), as well as for the affected people themselves and the organizations that represent them.

In summary, the aim of the app is to bring awareness about low vision in order to facilitate understanding and improve social interaction for persons with low vision.