Hess Screen Revised: How Eye Tracking and Virtual Reality change Strabismus Assessment

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Vision Science
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Strabismus is a common visual disorder involving eye misalignment, quantified by the deviation angle.
• Virtual Reality (VR) Head-Mounted-Displays (HMD) with eye tracking present novel opportunities for strabismus assessment.
• Existing VR research primarily focuses on prism cover tests, with limited exploration of screen tests.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement the Hess Screen Test within a VR environment using an HMD and eye tracking.
• To objectively measure the deviation angle in strabismus patients using the VR Hess Screen Test.
• To compare the measurements from the VR Hess Screen Test against a traditional 2D monitor-based test.

Main Methods:

• Development of a VR-based Hess Screen Test utilizing an HMD equipped with integrated eye tracking.
• Conducting a study to evaluate the functionality and performance of the VR Hess Screen Test.
• Comparative analysis of deviation angle measurements obtained from the VR implementation versus a 2D monitor version.

Main Results:

• The VR Hess Screen Test successfully implemented objective measurement of the deviation angle.
• Significant differences were observed in the measured deviation angles between the VR and 2D monitor-based tests.
• These discrepancies are hypothesized to stem from variations in the type of ocular dissociation induced by each method.

Conclusions:

• The VR Hess Screen Test provides a novel, objective method for assessing strabismus deviation angles.
• VR technology offers a distinct approach to visual field testing compared to traditional 2D methods.
• Further research is warranted to understand the implications of different dissociation types in VR-based eye assessments.