The purpose of this study was to undertake a systematic literature review on how vision enhancements, implemented using head-mounted displays (HMDs), can improve mobility, orientation, and associated aspects of visual function in people with low vision. Methods: The databases Medline, Chinl, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for potentially relevant studies. Publications from all years until November 2018 were identified based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data were tabulated and synthesized to produce a systematic review. Results: The search identified 28 relevant papers describing the performance of vision enhancement techniques on mobility and associated visual tasks. Simplifying visual scenes improved obstacle detection and object recognition but decreased walking speed. Minification techniques increased the size of the visual field by 3 to 5 times and improved visual search performance. However, the impact of minification on mobility has not been studied extensively. Clinical trials with commercially available devices recorded poor results relative to conventional aids. Conclusions: The effects of current vision enhancements using HMDs are mixed. They appear to reduce mobility efficiency but improved obstacle detection and object recognition. The review highlights the lack of controlled studies with robust study designs. To support the evidence base, well-designed trials with larger sample sizes that represent different types of impairments and real-life scenarios are required. Future work should focus on identifying the needs of people with different types of vision impairment and providing targeted enhancements. Translational Relevance: This literature review examines the evidence regarding the ability of HMD technology to improve mobility in people with sight loss.
People with low vision experience reduced mobility that affects their physical and mental wellbeing. With augmented reality (AR) glasses, there are new opportunities to provide visual and auditory information that can improve mobility for this vulnerable group. Current research into AR-based mobility aids has focused mainly on the technical aspects, and less emphasis has been placed on understanding the usability and suitability of these aids in people with various levels of visual impairment. In this paper, we present the results of qualitative interviews with 18 participants using HoloLens v1 and eight prototype augmentations to understand how these enhancements are perceived by people with low vision and how these aids should be adjusted to suit their needs. Our results suggested that participants with moderate vision loss could potentially perceive the most benefit from glasses and underlined the importance of extensive customizability to accommodate the needs of a highly varied low vision population. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing~Accessibility~Accessibility technologies•Social and professional topics~User characteristics~People with disabilities
Augmented reality technology has the potential to improve what people with low vision can see by supplementing the real-world with visually accessible augmentations, thus providing useful information for mobility. This project aims to explore how AR can be used as a mobility aid for those people.
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