Browsing by Subject "low vision"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Identifying the Preferred Retinal Locus for Reading
    (2023-04) Fidanci, Arda
    People with central vision loss (CVL) often adopt a specific retinal location, known as the preferred retinal locus (PRL), outside of the region of loss to fixate targets in the visual field. The PRL is most often measured using simple fixation tasks. It has been reported that this location on the retina, also known as fixational PRL (fPRL), does not necessarily correspond to the retinal locus used in other tasks. However, it has been challenging to measure the PRL while observers are reading, a task involving frequent eye movements. This thesis presents a study investigating whether the attended location during reading in CVL participants corresponds to the fixation PRL. In our study, we developed a method to determine the retinal area engaged during fixations in reading. We validated this method for identifying the retinal location attended to during reading with ten control participants. We then used this method for assessing reading PRLs in three patients with central vision loss. Results showed that while two of the CVL patients used the fixational PRL location in reading, another patient with CVL appeared to use a different retinal location in reading. These findings help us to understand the practical use of PRL locations across tasks, especially for uncovering whether and how often the fixational PRL corresponds to the PRL used for reading.
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    The Impact of Weather Conditions and Infrastructure Design on the Mobility of People with Impaired Vision
    (2019-07) Achtemeier, Jacob
    Nineteen normally-sighted, low vision, and blind pedestrians provided self-reported effects of environmental, infrastructural, and social factors influencing outdoor mobility in the Minnesota’s Twin-Cities metropolitan area. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to gather data on challenges associated with year-round, independent outdoor navigation emphasizing winter pedestrian mobility. Study themes included weather pressures (e.g., precipitation, temperature), infrastructural/engineering features (e.g., street, sidewalk, intersection design and maintenance), and safety concerns related to motorists and obstacles. Results identify pedestrian hazard impacts on quality of life and behavioral adaptations visually-impaired pedestrians create to increase safety and efficiency during mobility. Conclusions prompt considerations for urban planners, engineers, community activists, and stakeholders concerning mobility issues for visually-impaired pedestrians. Recommendations are provided to promote equity and wellbeing in pedestrian mobility.
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    Reconciling Print-Size and Display-Size Constraints on Reading (Minnesota Lab for Low-Vision Research, 2020)
    (2020-03-20) Atilgan, Nilsu; Xiong, Yingzi; Legge, Gordon E.; atilg001@umn.edu; Atilgan, Nilsu; University of Minnesota - MN Lab for Low Vision Research
    The data includes both normally-sighted (Times and Courier groups) and low-vision subjects' reading performance. The main dependent variable in this dataset is reading speed. Reading speed measure is indicated by how many characters per minute were read. In addition, two independent variables with their different levels are provided. These variables are display format (laptop, tablet, phone) and blur condition for normally-sighted participants (normal-viewing condition and viewing under artificial blur through goggles).
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    Stigma, Low Vision, and Quality of Life: An Annotated Bibliography
    (2020-05-06) Le Lay, Brian
    This annotated bibliography draws together sources from disability studies, ophthalmology, and the rhetoric of health and medicine to explore the relationship between stigma and quality of life (QOL) in persons with low vision. Centering on one such case, the stigmatized cosmetic aspects of nystagmus (a visual impairment characterized by involuntary eye movement) the bibliography will be a valuable resource for academic researchers and industry professionals new to and/or interested in learning about low vision and QOL. The annotations will contribute to our understanding of these topics by drawing connections among diffuse domains of scholarship and suggesting potential directions for future study by humanist scholars and social scientists.