Low Vision Assessment in Virtual Reality (LVAVR): Spatial Computing in Virtual Reality and Real-World

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation Science
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Ophthalmology

Background:

• Low vision impacts daily living activities.
• Current assessments may not fully capture functional limitations.
• Virtual reality (VR) offers a novel platform for standardized assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate virtual reality (VR) activities against real-world activities for low vision assessment.
• To develop standardized activities of daily living (ADL) in VR.
• To assess the performance of a broad low vision population in VR.

Main Methods:

• Recreated a rehabilitation space (kitchen, living room) in VR with photorealistic rendering.
• Developed 25 standardized activities of daily living (ADL) in VR using Unity.
• Conducted a validation study comparing VR activities to real-world tasks.

Main Results:

• The study successfully created and validated VR-based ADL.
• Photorealistic rendering enhanced the immersion and realism of the VR environment.
• The developed activities were based on a visual functioning questionnaire.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality (VR) provides a viable and standardized method for assessing activities of daily living (ADL) in individuals with low vision.
• The validated VR activities can be used to create objective performance measures.
• This approach has the potential to improve rehabilitation outcomes for the low vision population.