LOW VISION AID FOR OBSERVERS WITH CENTRAL VISION LOSSES

THE LOW VISION AID DEVELOPED DURING THIS STUDY WILL PROVIDE AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE TO HELP VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS MAXIMIZE THE USE OF THEIR RESIDUAL VISION, USING INNOVATIVE IMAGE ENHANCEMENT FILTERS THAT WILL BE AVAILABLE COMMERCIALLY AS AN OPTION ON CURRENT CLOSED- CIRCUIT TV (CCTV) READERS. THESE FILTERS ENHANCE TEXT BY OPTIMIZING THE LOW VISION OBSERVER'S REMAINING CONTRAST SENSITIVITY, AND RENDER THE TEXT IN SHADES OF GRAY THAT ARE MORE EASILY PERCEIVED THAN BLACK AND WHITE. THE OBJECTIVE OF PHASE I IS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE IMPROVED READING PERFORMANCE OF LOW VISION OBSERVERS FOUND WHEN VIEWING STATIC WORDS PRESENTED ONE AT A TIME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCREEN, EXTENDS TO CONTINUOUS TEXT THAT IS SCROLLED ACROSS THE SCREEN AT DIFFERENT SPEEDS, AS USED ON CCTVS. THE SPECIFIC AIMS OF PHASE I ARE TO: 1) IMPLEMENT THE SOFTWARE NEEDED TO: GENERATE TEXT USING THE SAME FORMAT USED ON CCTVS AND 2) MEASURE WHETHER THE READING RATES OF LOW VISION OBSERVERS ARE IMPROVED WHEN READING MOVING CONTINUOUS FILTERED TEXT, WHEN COMPARED TO UNFILTERED TEXT HAVING THE SAME MAGNIFICATION. WHEN THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS PROJECT IS SHOWN AT THE END OF PHASE I, THEN PHASE II FUNDING WILL BE USED TO CONDUCT ALL THE RESEARCH NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM HARDWARE CONFIGURATION FOR BUILDING A COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE COST-EFFECTIVE DEVICE TO SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE THE READING PERFORMANCE OF LOW VISION OBSERVERS.