Sight-loss app helps designers create buildings


For many of us the idea of losing our sight is a devastating one, sadly for some people in the world, it is their reality.


In a bid to improve the quality of life for those who are partially sighted, Catapult Transport Systems and the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the UK, have developed a new app called Eyeware. The app allows the user to see life through the eyes of a partially sighted person.

Using an abundance of scientific literature, app designers were able to accurately recreate what it would be like to have cataracts, glaucoma and other eye conditions.

The world through the eyes of someone with Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Simon White, a spokesperson for Catapult explained how the idea for Eyeware was born: 

“We met with the RNIB [to discuss] how we could limit or enhance people’s experience in VR (Virtual Reality), for instance allowing them to explore a building as a wheel chair user in VR. This led to the idea of simulating multiple eye conditions in VR and then in AR (Augmented Reality) – overlaying eye conditions onto the world around you.”

White explains that the app works by putting the user in the postion of a partially sighted individual:

 “Eyeware uses the camera on a smart phone and applies a filter over the live image which approximates an eye condition...If combined with a headset this means you can navigate your environment with the same experience as someone with an eye condition.” White said.

The app shows what life looks life through the eyes of someone with DiabeticRetinopathy.

The app shows what life looks life through the eyes of someone with DiabeticRetinopathy.

Catapult and RNIB hope that the app will help architects and designers to create more accessible buildings.

“Eyeware allows designers to empathise with people with sight loss allowing them to experience first-hand how their designs will be experienced by these people.” Said White.

“This will help them consider things like colour choice, sign positioning and contrast and [path] finding in large environments. The filters can also be applied to virtual designs so you can test them before committing to a physical build.” He said.

The app makers hopes that the app will not only help designers but also improve the lives of the partially blind.

“We hope this will lead to many more visual impairment friendly environments and therefore much greater mobility for these people,” White said.

Watch the video below to learn more about the app.

 








Progressive Media International Limited. Registered Office: 40-42 Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8EB, UK.Copyright 2024, All rights reserved.