Degraded Reality: Using VR/AR to simulate visual impairments

The effects of eye disease cannot be depicted accurately using traditional media. Consequently, public understanding of eye disease is often poor. We present a VR/AR system for simulating common visual impairments, including disability glare, spatial distortions (Metamorphopsia), the selective blurring and filling-in of information across the visual field, and color vision deficits. Unlike most existing simulators, the simulations are informed by patients’ self-reported symptoms, can be quantitatively manipulated to provide custom disease profiles, and support gaze-contingent presentation (i.e., when using a VR/AR headset that contains eye-tracking technology, such as the Fove0). Such a simulator could be used as a teaching/empathy aid, or as a tool for evaluating the accessibility of new products and environments.