SGER: Decision-Based Engineering Design for a Low Vision Aid Using the Virtual Retinal Display

该项目将开发一种设备的工程设计，以帮助某些类型的低视力或视力受损的人看到东西。设计将基于这样的原则：工程设计是一个决策过程，而不仅仅是一个解决问题的过程。因此，作为决策者的辅助，将建立一个模型，该模型定义了价值、属性、需求、时间、价格等因素的概念，并利用理性进行优化。该项目将分为两个主要部分：(1)开发决策模型并将其应用于低视力助视器（LVA）的设计；(2)开发低视力助视器演示，以说明这种产品对低视力人群的可行性和重要性。视觉增强将通过利用虚拟视网膜显示（VRD）的独特属性来实现，VRD是一种安全的将图像数据直接扫描到视网膜上而不需要中间图像形成表面的方法。VRD在视网膜上投射出非常明亮、对比度高、色彩饱和度高的图像，并通过一个非常小的出口瞳孔投射到眼睛中。如果成功，这项研究将导致易于使用的视觉增强辅助设备的发展，这些设备将使视障人士能够阅读印刷材料（例如，书籍，杂志，报纸等），看电视，与计算机显示器互动，并在物理世界中导航。该仪器将帮助克服角膜疤痕、圆锥角膜、老花眼和白内障等损伤。VRD的光学特性也可能被证明对黄斑变性和弱视有帮助。工程设计的发展是使患有这些疾病的人能够获得LVA的过程的第一步。该项目还将提供一个基于决策的工程设计的应用实例。

This project will develop engineering designs for an appliance that will help people with certain types of low, or impaired, vision to see. The designs will be based on the principle that engineering design is a decision-making process, not merely a problem-solving one. Thus, as an aid for the decision maker, a model will be built that defines concepts such as value, attributes, demand, time, price, and other factors, and utilizes a rational for optimization. The project will have two main parts: (1) the development of the decision-making model and its application to the design of the Low-Vision Aid (LVA) and (2) the development of LVA demonstrations that will illustrate the feasibility and importance of such a product for people with low vision. Vision enhancement will be achieved by exploiting the unique attributes of the Virtual Retinal Display (VRD), a means of safely scanning image data directly onto the retina without intermediate image formation surfaces. The VRD projects an image on the retina that is very bright, has high contrast, has highly saturated colors, and is projected into the eye via a very small exit pupil. If successful, this research will lead to the development of easy-to-use vision enhancement aids, devices that will enable the visually impaired to read printed material (e.g., books, magazines, newspapers, etc.), to watch TV, to interact with a computer monitor, and to navigate in the physical world. The impairments that this instrument will help overcome include corneal scars, keratoconus, presbyopia, and cataracts. The optical characteristics of the VRD may also prove to be an aid for macular degeneration and amblyopia. The development of engineering designs is the first step in the process of making the LVA available to people subject to these diseases. The project will also provide an example application of decision-based engineering design.