A virtual reality platform to simulate orientation and mobility training for the visually impaired
A virtual reality platform to simulate orientation and mobility training for the visually impaired
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DOI：
10.1007/s10055-022-00691-x
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发表时间：
2022-09-13
期刊：
影响因子：
4.2
通讯作者：
Porfiri，Maurizio
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ricci，Fabiana Sofia;Boldini，Alain;Porfiri，Maurizio
失明和视力低下是一个紧迫且不断增加的公共卫生问题。导致视力障碍 (VI) 的衰弱状况最严重的后果之一是丧失行动能力。不动是生活质量的严重障碍。定向和移动 (O&M) 培训是 VI 特有的专业，旨在向所有年龄段和所有类型环境中的人员传授安全、高效和有效的旅行技能。然而，缺乏客观评估绩效的标准化最佳实践以及学员在培训期间受到伤害是运维教育成功的主要障碍。为了部分缓解这些缺点，我们提出了一个虚拟现实平台，可以支持运维培训师评估和完善运维实践，帮助运维学员在完全安全且现实的环境中学习新的运维技术，并提高公众对 VI 的认识。该平台通过概念验证实验进行测试，评估定制 VI 模拟的临床实用性、虚拟现实体验的沉浸感（培训和教育目的的关键属性）以及参与者的残疾意识，并了解 VI 患者在日常生活中面临的挑战。第一个概念是通过评估参与者在基于虚拟现实的寻路任务中的表现来测试的，而第二个和第三个概念是通过一系列专门的问卷进行测试的。
Blindness and low vision are an urgent, steadily increasing public health concern. One of the most dramatic consequences of the debilitating conditions that cause visual impairment (VI) is the loss of mobility. Immobility is a grave impediment to quality of life. Orientation and mobility (O&M) training is a profession specific to VI that teaches safe, efficient, and effective travel skills to persons of all ages and in all types of environments. However, the lack of standardized best practices for objective assessment of performance and the exposure of trainees to harm during training are key hurdles for O&M education success. To partially mitigate these drawbacks, we propose a virtual reality platform that can support O&M trainers in the evaluation and refinement of O&M practice, help O&M trainees learn new O&M techniques in a completely safe, yet realistic, environment, and raise awareness for VI in the general public. The proposed platform is tested with a proof-of-concept experiment that evaluates the clinical utility of a custom VI simulation, the immersivity of the virtual reality experience—a crucial attribute for training and educational purposes—and participants’ disability awareness and gained knowledge about the challenges faced by persons with VI in their daily life. The first concept is tested by assessing participants’ performance in virtual reality-based wayfinding tasks while the second and third are tested through a series of dedicated questionnaires.