I-Corps: Virtual Reality Vision Therapy

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是服务于“融合功能不全”的临床人群，其中包括仅在美国就有数百万人，以及50%的患有后脑震荡综合征(PCS)的脑损伤人群。设计利用虚拟现实游戏技术的引人入胜的视力治疗方案将对这一年轻群体的学术和职业生涯增长和目标产生巨大影响。广泛的市场影响还包括由先前NSF拨款资助的翻译研究接触到普通公众的机会。这种解决方案有可能成为一种负担得起的替代方案，可以在家中舒适地进行传统的视力治疗，从而节省医疗成本和患者的时间。这个i-Corps项目旨在探索虚拟现实和视觉治疗技术的新组合的商业潜力。收敛不足是一种双眼视觉功能障碍，会导致以下视觉症状：模糊和复视，眼睛紧张和疲劳，头痛，以及阅读时文字似乎漂浮在页面上方的光环效应。这些视觉症状会对人们在附近工作的能力产生负面影响，比如阅读和使用电脑/平板电脑。这里开发的虚拟现实视觉疗法包括将眼睛跟踪与传统视觉治疗方法相结合，通过一套引人入胜的虚拟现实视频游戏体验来促进患者的依从性，对患者在整个视觉治疗过程中的进展进行客观评估，以及创建针对患者的治疗干预的灵活平台。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to serve the "Convergence Insufficiency" clinical population, which includes millions of people in the US alone, as well as 50% of the brain injury population who has post concussive syndrome (PCS). Designing engaging vision therapy protocols that leverage virtual reality gaming technology will have a dramatic impact in particular on this young population's academic and professional career growth and goals. Broad market impacts also include the opportunity for translational research funded by prior NSF grants to reach the general public. This solution has the potential to be an affordable alternative to traditional vision therapy administered in the comfort of one's home saving both healthcare cost and patient's time.This I-Corps project seeks to explore the commercial potential of a novel combination of virtual reality and vision therapy technologies. Convergence Insufficiency is a binocular vision dysfunction which causes the following vision symptoms: blurry and double vision, eye stress and strain, headaches, and a 'halo' effect where words appear to float above the page while reading. These visual symptoms negatively impact a person's ability to perform near work such as reading and computer/tablet use. The Virtual Reality Vision Therapy developed here encompasses integration of eye tracking with traditional vision therapy methodologies, promotion of patient compliance through a suite of engaging virtual reality video game experiences, objective assessments of patient progress throughout the course of vision therapy, and a flexible platform to create a patient specific therapeutic intervention.