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App offers insight into problems faced by visually impaired travellers

Deniz Huseyin
21 March 2017
The app allows users to experience what it is like to access urban environments with eye conditions such as cataracts
The app allows users to experience what it is like to access urban environments with eye conditions such as cataracts

 

A new smartphone app will enable station designers to experience for themselves the challenges faced by people with eye conditions. The Eyeware app, launched today, was developed in collaboration with sight loss charity RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People). 

Virtual filters give users an accurate sense of what is like to negotiate urban environments with conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, cataracts and glaucoma.

The filters are being used at the Transport Systems Catapult, the technology and innovation centre for Intelligent Mobility based at Milton Keynes. The team that developed the app at the organisation’s Visualisation Laboratory believe it will help station architects design accessible transport systems.

The Transport Systems Catapult team says that with RNIB's guidance it has created an accurate representation of the various eye conditions. “We worked with the RNIB eye care team's in-house experts to determine a collective view on what represents the eye conditions at various stages of severity/progression,” says project leader Martin Pett, Principle Technologist at the Transport Systems Catapult. “The RNIB technically assured that the lenses are the most accurate representation based on research and feedback from their eye care specialists. The app is signed off by them as RNIB approved and we are looking for accreditation from the World Blind Union and the relevant American foundations soon.”

The app is now being made available to the public as an educational tool, with the aim of increasing awareness of eye conditions.  

“Urban environments like stations and new technology, can be confusing for anyone, but the difficulties this causes can be increased 10-fold when someone is blind or partially sighted. Our app allows users to put themselves in the shoes of people with sight loss conditions, so they can make better decisions about accessibility,” says Pett.

“Not only are we aiming to raise awareness of these disabilities, but our app will also have practical applications. For instance, we are helping architects design stations that are easily navigable for people with sight loss and looking at ways to make self-driving cars more accessible.” 

Pett told Local Transport Today: “Designing for those in society with the biggest challenges when travelling, will result in products and services that are more usable for all. We can help operators and those designing new transport systems to better understand what works and what doesn't with existing transport systems. This product allows users to see, understand and empathise with those suffering sight loss and the challenges they face.”

More than two million people in the UK are affected by sight loss, according to the RNIB. It predicts that by 2050, the number of people with sight loss in the UK will double to nearly four million. 

Findings from the RNIB’s 2015 ‘My Voice’ survey revealed that 40% of blind and partially sighted people were not able to make all the journeys that they wanted or needed to because of lack of accessibility.

John Worsfold, RNIB Implementation Manager, says: “There is huge potential for this app to raise awareness of what it might be like to have an eye condition both from an educational and practical standpoint. Eyeware can help friends and family better understand their loved ones' condition, young people empathising with those suffering visual impairment to helping policy makers, architects and designers make better decisions in designing more inclusive goods and services such as urban environments and transportation.” 

The Eyeware app is available for download from the Apple store and Google Play store. 

View a video demonstration of Eyeware at: https://youtu.be/HUNUG7aBk8Q

 

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