Adaptive Technology

Digital Tablets Improve Ability to Read

A presentation at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting highlights a study showing that people with moderate vision loss could increase their reading speed by 15 words per minute by using a digital tablet with a back lit screen.  This improves contrast sensitivity.  “Patients with the poorest vision- defined as 20/40 or worse in both eyes- showed the most improvement in speed when using an iPad or Kindle, compared with print.”  The study was conducted at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.

 

Optical Diagnosis and Correction Techniques for Macular Degeneration

Nobel laureate Dr. Walter Kohn has developed a computerized method for measuring the precise visual distortion experienced by a macular degeneration patient. The patient, using a computer mouse and specialized software, reconstructs the Amsler grid so it appears undistorted. The computer calculates a correction factor.

iPhone Low Vision Aid

The Apple iPhone has an app (app = application, or a small program), LookTel Recognizer, available in the iTunes App Store, that allows visually impaired users to recognize items and surroundings. You point the iPhone camera and listen to the phone. The phone recognizes and identifies the object or location. There is no need to hold the camera still or take a photo.

Bionic Glasses?

Bionic glasses are being developed at Oxford University. Using technology found in smartphones, the glasses have video cameras at the sides and a LED light display embedded in the lenses. The smartphone-type computer, which fits in the wearer’s pocket, recognizes the objects in the video image and tracks down where a person or object is, which in turn, drives the lights in the display. This helps people navigate around a room and locate objects that are close-by. The brightness helps the wearer to see how close an object is.

Low Vision Devices (Kindle, iPad)

Electronic reading devices, such as the Kindle, allow the user to adust the font to a wide range of sizes with the press of a button.  The iPad allows the reader to zoom images and text by "pinching and expanding" ones fingers in addition to pushing a button.

Kindles and iPads offer excellent contrast, and the latter offers brilliant colors.  The wireless feature allows portability and comes in screens as large as almost 10 inches.  By trying out various devices at the vendor’s store, people with AMD can find the reader best suited for them.

 

Accessability Becoming Standard Fare For Many Electronics

Technological advances in electronic devices, such as the iPad and iPhone 4, both from Apple, are increasingly targeted towards visually impaired people. Both devices have a zoom feature, a white on black option, and a screen reading feature that are easily controlled with your fingers by touching the screen. They also have special features for those with hearing impairments. Most computers also come with special features for visually impaired people, and the Apple Computer models are particularly comprehensive and easy to use.

Stopping AMD at the Molecular Level

Researchers at the University College London report that for the first time that they have discovered how a common blood protein is involved in inflammation and damage to the eye. They studied two proteins involved in drusen formation. Uncontrolled C-reactive protein activity causes damage to the retina and the debris of broken up retinal cells is deposited as drusen.  C-reactive protein prevents Factor H from clumping and initiating drusen formation.

Vision For The Blind

Brainport is a nonsurgical device, intended for the blind and people with poor vision, that consists of an electrode "lollipop" that sits on the tongue and a pair of glasses that contain a small video camera.  The camera sends signals to the device, which "draws" images with mild impulses on the tongue, allowing identification of shape, size and location of objects.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/18/eveningnews/eyeontech/main2373...

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2373573n&tag=related;photovideo (VIDEO)

U.S. and Canada Embark on Project to Develop a Gene Therapy for Retinal Blindness

The goal of this project is to begin testing a new gene therapy in patients who are losing their vision due to retinal disease, by the end of five years,” said Dr. Tsilflidis, Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.  By blocking a process (apoptosis) that causes retinal cell death, thus blindness, the XIAP gene therapy protects the retinal cells.  The gene is delivered to the eye using a virus.

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