VREye: Exploring Human Visual Acuity Test Using Virtual Reality

Human Eye is a complex sense organ that allows vision. Vision problems may arise due to various reasons. Vision tests serve us to determine the levels of vision degradation. Early observations can support us to provide appropriate intervention for vision issues. However, one needs an Optometrist (eye specialist) to identify and validate vision issues. Scheduling an eye check-up can be tedious or unaffordable to people across various parts of the world. Acknowledging the real-world challenges on a scale of affordance to laziness, a simplified solution for vision tests can ease understanding the levels of vision issues. Considering this use case, we attempt to build a virtual reality (VR) based vision testing mechanism for studying vision issues for individuals across all age groups called ‘VREye’. In this paper, we discuss our journey towards developing a VR based solution for detecting myopic vision. We detail our challenges and insights on building the overall VR scene design, developing a virtual distance scale, and using real-world test subjects for initial validation. We also discuss our plans to extend this application to include more vision problems like hypermetropia and color blindness.