Virtual Reality-Base Intelligent Orientation and Mobility Specialists Trial (VR-IOMS)
Low Vision, Both Eyes
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Low Vision, Both Eyes focused on measuring Orientation & Mobility, Virtual Reality, Intelligent Tutoring, Low Vision
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Have stable, late-onset visual impairment.
- Not have had formal O&M training. Potential participants will be taken to real streets by COMS and their performance on the 3 studied tasks will be evaluated.
Following visual function requirements for the three studied O&M tasks
- Task NLPT: best corrected visual acuity of 20/650 or worse
Task TGJ:
- central vision loss - acuity 20/100-20/300, radius of field 50-80 deg
- peripheral vision loss - acuity 20/15-20/100, radius of field 5-55 deg
- Task ONS: visual function requirements for both Tasks NLPT & TGJ
- Possess sufficient functional vision to learn the O&M tasks (evaluated by COMS in real streets)
- Have O&M as a rehabilitation goal
- Normal or corrected to normal hearing
- No cognitive impairment (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) or MoCA-blind (MoCA-B) score exceeds education-adjusted cutoffs)
- Dexterity to operate a pointing mouse or a joystick
- Physical stamina to walk a few street blocks under guidance of COMSs and to stand or sit for 30-min training sessions on the street or in the VR simulator
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patients in the rapid progression phase of ocular diseases, such as wet macular degeneration
- Patients under aggressive treatment of ocular diseases, such as VEGF injection for retinal diseases
- Patients with congenital visual impairment will be excluded.
- Participants will be excluded from the training for the skills that they already master.
- Participants who have a history of epileptic seizure or are prone to motion sickness will be excluded.
- Have difficulty in verbal communication in English.
Sites / Locations
- University of Alabama at BirminghamRecruiting
- Alabama Institute for Deaf and BlindRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Arm 3
Experimental
Active Comparator
Placebo Comparator
Orientation and Mobility Training with VR-IOMSs
Orientation and Mobility Training with COMS
No Orientation and Mobility Training
Low vision subjects with Orientation and Mobility (O&M) difficulties learning O&M skills from Virtual Reality-base Intelligent O&M Specialists (VR-IOMSs). VR-IOMSs are intelligent, computer-controlled automatic O&M skill training programs in virtual streets.
Low vision subjects with Orientation and Mobility (O&M) difficulties learning O&M skills from human Certified O&M Specialists (COMS) in real streets
Low vision subjects with Orientation and Mobility (O&M) difficulties watching low vision education videos and discuss low vision issues not related to O&M with COMSs.