VR Visual Acuity
Virtual Reality Visual Acuity
Quick Summary
Virtual reality technology is breaking new ground in the field of medicine and neurophysiology, offering sophisticated methods for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. This project focuses on the development of innovative software for VR technologies to extend their potential for medical applications by measuring visual acuity in virtual environments.
The goal of this software development is to create an innovative system for accurate and efficient assessment of visual acuity through virtual reality technology. This includes the development of a LogMar digital optotype in a VR environment to provide a more flexible and direct method for measuring visual acuity compared to traditional methods. The goal is to improve medical diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in visual disorders, making the experience more comfortable and accessible for patients, and still provide a reliable diagnostic tool for ophthalmologists.
In addition to the development and validation of an application for the assessment of visual acuity via VR, an additional important goal of the study is to understand and understand the limits that virtual environments place on visualization in relation to visual acuity. This application will enable developers and content designers to better understand how content intended for display in the virtual environment is affected by the parameters of visual acuity and the technical capabilities of VR devices.
The virtual reality application was implemented to display the symbols in different sizes according to the logMar scale. To achieve this, experimental procedures were carried out to measure and validate the distances and sizes of the symbols.
At first, the symbols were implemented in different sizes using the Optotype font and an interface was created to display attributes such as the height of the letters in millimeters, the size in pixels as well as their logMar value. Also, for making comparisons and verifying distances, the distance between the two controls is displayed in real time.
After the identification of the correct representation of the symbols in size and distance, the development of the final application followed.
When the application is launched, the user is inside a virtual room, facing a white board through the VR mask.
At the same time, a second screen presents a control menu for the examiner. Through this, the examiner enters the individual details of the examinee, selects which eye to examine and the LogMar starting point for the start of the examination
Once the LogMar starting scale is selected and the ‘Start’ button is pressed, the optotypes are displayed on the white board in front of the examinee. The examiner can monitor via the control interface the VR scene, the current optotype and the corresponding LogMar scale, as well as the amount of time required for the examinee to recognize the letters in the optotype.
Additionally, the examiner records any errors made by the examinee via the slider bar in the control menu. By selecting the ‘Next Image’ option, the next optotype on the LogMar scale is displayed until the exam is completed.
The application automatically extracts, stores the data and metadata of the procedure, and records the examinee’s reading time for later analysis
From the data collected we record the observations and conclusions drawn from the analyses of the VR application data.
– Initial analyses show that the VR devices tested provide consistent results up to a certain level of visual acuity, corresponding to a logmar scale of 0.5.
– However, beyond this threshold, the devices appear to lack reliability. For example, people with excellent vision in real life, who can read the smaller letters on a printed LogMar optotype, cannot recognise the corresponding small letters in the virtual environment. This may be due to limitations of the VR devices themselves, such as pixel density or image quality.
– Despite initial observations, confirmation of the statistical significance of the findings through further analysis is expected. This will help to validate the reliability bounds of the devices and enhance the reliability of the application at the whole LogMar scale.