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Impact of Apps as Assistive Devices for Visually Impaired Persons
Shrinivas Pundlik1, Prerana Shivshanker1, Gang Luo1
1Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;
Annual Review of Vision Science
|May 1, 2023
Summary
Mobile apps offer affordable and versatile visual assistance for people with visual impairments. However, rigorous scientific evaluations of their real-world impact on daily tasks and quality of life are needed.
Area of Science:
- Assistive Technology
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Mobile devices are increasingly used by people with visual impairments for daily tasks.
- Mobile apps offer advantages over traditional visual aids, including cost, portability, and versatility.
- Existing evaluations of these apps often rely on user reviews, which lack scientific rigor.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the current landscape of mobile applications for visual assistance.
- To highlight the limitations in current evaluation methods for these apps.
- To discuss the need for scientific research on the real-world benefits of vision assistance apps.
Main Methods:
- Surveyed hundreds of mobile apps relevant to visual impairment.
- Categorized apps into assistive (e.g., recognition, navigation) and general magnification apps.
- Reviewed existing literature on vision assistance apps and their evaluations.
Main Results:
- A wide range of mobile apps are available for visual assistance.
- While user feedback is generally positive, scientifically rigorous evaluations are scarce.
- Establishing consistent evaluation criteria is challenging due to diverse user needs and tasks.
Conclusions:
- Mobile apps show promise for assisting individuals with visual impairments.
- There is a critical need for more scientific research to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of these apps.
- Developing standardized methods for evaluating vision assistance apps is essential to understand their true benefits.
