Understanding How Low Vision People Read Using Eye Tracking

People with low vision have a visual impairment that affects their ability to perform daily activities. Unlike blind people, low vision people have functional vision and can potentially benefit from smart glasses that provide dynamic, always-available visual information. We sought to determine what low vision people could see on mainstream commercial augmented reality (AR) glasses, despite their visual limitations and the device's constraints. We conducted a study with 20 low vision participants and 18 sighted controls, asking them to identify virtual shapes and text in different sizes, colors, and thicknesses. We also evaluated their ability to see the virtual elements while walking. We found that low vision participants were able to identify basic shapes and read short phrases on the glasses while sitting and walking. Identifying virtual elements had a similar effect on low vision and sighted people's walking speed, slowing it down slightly. Our study yielded preliminary evidence that mainstream AR glasses can be powerful accessibility tools. We derive guidelines for presenting visual output for low vision people and discuss opportunities for accessibility applications on this platform.

Reading is a challenging task for low vision people. While conventional low vision aids (e.g., magnification) offer certain support, they cannot fully address the difficulties faced by low vision users, such as locating the next line and distinguishing similar words. To fill this gap, we present GazePrompt, a gaze-aware reading aid that provides timely and targeted visual and audio augmentations based on users’ gaze behaviors. GazePrompt includes two key features: (1) a Line-Switching support that highlights the line a reader intends to read; and (2) a Difficult-Word support that magnifies or reads aloud a word that the reader hesitates with. Through a study with 13 low vision participants who performed well-controlled reading-aloud tasks with and without GazePrompt, we found that GazePrompt significantly reduced participants’ line switching time, reduced word recognition errors, and improved their subjective reading experiences. A follow-up silent-reading study showed that GazePrompt can enhance users’ concentration and perceived comprehension of the reading contents. We further derive design considerations for future gaze-based low vision aids.

Background Outdoor navigation poses significant challenges for people with blindness or low vision, yet the role of gaze behaviour in supporting mobility remains underexplored. Fully sighted individuals typically adopt consistent scanning strategies, whereas those with visual impairments rely on heterogeneous adaptations shaped by residual vision and experience. Methods We conducted a comparative eye-tracking study of fully sighted, low vision, blind, and fully blind participants navigating outdoor routes. Using a wearable eye tracker, we quantified fixation counts, fixation rate, fixation area, direction, peak fixation location, and walking speed. Results Walking speed declined systematically with worsening vision. Fixation count increased with greater impairment, reflecting slower travel times and more frequent sampling. Fixation rate differed across groups, though between-group differences were generally not significant between most groups. Fixation spatial coverage decreased along the continuum of vision loss. Fixation patterns were most consistent in the fully sighted group. Peak fixation locations were centred in fully sighted participants but shifted outward and became more variable with impairment. Conclusion Gaze strategies during navigation form a graded continuum across vision groups, with fully sighted and fully blind participants at opposite poles and low vision and blind groups spanning the middle. Visual acuity alone does not predict functional gaze use, as rehabilitation experience and adaptive strategies strongly shape behaviour. These findings highlight the need for personalised rehabilitation and assistive technologies, with residual gaze patterns offering insight into mobility capacity and training opportunities for safer navigation. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Distinct Residual Vision Patterns: This research reveals that residual vision patterns differ significantly, with fully sighted individuals exhibiting a consistent fixation pattern while low vision participants show more varied strategies during navigation. Highly Individualised Gaze Behaviours: Low vision participants demonstrate highly individualised gaze behaviours, indicating that a one-size-fits-all approach is inadequate for effective rehabilitation. Tailored Assistive Solutions: Assistive technologies and rehabilitation programs should be designed to address these unique, individualised needs, providing personalised feedback and training to enhance mobility and safety.

Blind and low vision people use visual description services (VDS) to gain visual interpretation and build access in a world that privileges sight. Despite their many benefits, VDS have many harmful privacy and security implications. As a result, researchers are suggesting, exploring, and building obfuscation systems that detect and obscure private or sensitive materials. However, as obfuscation depends largely on sight to interpret outcomes, it is unknown whether Blind and low vision people would find such approaches useful. Our work aims to center the perspectives and opinions of Blind and low vision people on the potential of obfuscation to address privacy concerns in VDS. By reporting on interviews with 20 Blind and low vision people who use VDS, our findings reveal that popular research trends in obfuscation fail to capture the needs of Blind and low vision people. While obfuscation might be helpful in gaining more control, tensions around obfuscation misrecognition and confirmation are prominent. We turn to the framework of interdependence to unpack and understand obfuscation in VDS, enabling us to complicate privacy concerns, uncover the labor of Blind and low vision people, and emphasize the importance of safeguards. We provide design directions to move the trajectory of obfuscation research forward.

As social VR applications grow in popularity, blind and low vision users encounter continued accessibility barriers. Yet social VR, which enables multiple people to engage in the same virtual space, presents a unique opportunity to allow other people to support a user’s access needs. To explore this opportunity, we designed a framework based on physical sighted guidance that enables a guide to support a blind or low vision user with navigation and visual interpretation. A user can virtually hold on to their guide and move with them, while the guide can describe the environment. We studied the use of our framework with 16 blind and low vision participants and found that they had a wide range of preferences. For example, we found that participants wanted to use their guide to support social interactions and establish a human connection with a human-appearing guide. We also highlight opportunities for novel guidance abilities in VR, such as dynamically altering an inaccessible environment. Through this work, we open a novel design space for a versatile approach for making VR fully accessible.

Eye tracking technique in the visibility study of low vision was newly introduced in the previous report, where we examined the ease of finding public signs on the streets and in the interior of buildings by low vision people. We got a conclusion that they hardly notice these signs. In this report we continue our research in this direction. We describe details of eye tracking technology applied to low vision. We devise calibration method for low vision. We describe analysis of eye tracking data on the basis of simplified gaze circle model of sight of low vision, leading to a conclusion that it is possible as well for low vision to locate regions of interest (ROI) by applying classical method of scanpath analysis. We also show a preliminary result of public sign recognition in the view by using a fast pattern matching technology called “boosting,” linking to a future system for guiding the gaze of low vision to a missing public sign and zooming into it.

Vision problem is affecting many Americans today. While there are several pioneering studies that examine computer input tasks performed by people with low vision, most focus on aggregate measures of performance, such as total task time. To provide a more detailed analysis of low vision user performance, we captured kinematics of pointing movements with the goal of determining the effect of low vision on the process of the movement. Ten participants were recruited to form a sighted and a low vision group. After controlling for the effects of age and psychomotor ability, differences in movement performance and kinematics between the two groups were compared. As expected, longer movement times were observed among low vision participants. When the movement was parsed into primary (i.e., initial phase) and secondary (i.e., homing phase) submovements, the kinematics of the primary submovement were similar for the two groups. However, low vision participants were found to spend more time in the secondary submovement. The effect of visual condition was amplified when a low vision participant had to move the cursor over longer distances. These findings suggest that for computing tasks requiring mouse-mediated pointing, task improvements focused on the secondary movement (i.e. homing phase) would benefit low vision users. Improving performance during homing phase could result in the overall improvement of performance. These results could also be useful to guide the development of adaptive and individualized assistive technology to assist users acquire intended targets. These results could also be useful to guide the development of adaptive and individualized assistive technology to assist users acquire intended targets.

Blind and low vision (BLV) people face challenges in accessing charts, often relying on assistive technologies with limited interactivity. This paper presents the design process of a tangible companion supporting data literacy for BLV people. Building on semi-structured interviews with five blind and six low vision participants and a review of current tools, we conducted a Story/Test/Story protocol with a low vision participant experienced in data representation. We compared a screen-magnified bar chart with two tactile probes: (1) a unit-based cardboard bar chart and (2) a static 3D bar sculpture, using a univariate public dataset. Insights from these activities informed the ideation of the Data Fidget, a prototype that communicates data through movement, expanding when values increase and contracting when they decrease, complementing existing assistive technologies. Future work will refine and test the Data Fidget with more BLV participants, contributing to an ecosystem of tactile and intuitive data engagement tools.

Motivated from the result of our field work study that low vision people are hardly noticing public signs on the streets and in the interior of buildings even under clear weather, in this report we continue our research on application of eye tracking technology for low vision aids. We start from a short characterization of low vision from viewing standpoint and show that low vision person can basically recognize target object by his residual sight on his mobile display if we send an enlarged clear vision of the target. Taking advantage of this possible enhancement of low vision we explore eye tracking technology for helping him with navigation during this walking time. We show that classical scanpath technique for localizing regions of interest (ROIs) is applicable with low vision as well. Then we proceed to examine possible enhancement of low vision by (1) segmenting out public signs from his ROI, and (2) sending its enhanced vision back to his mobile monitor. We also show a preliminary result of public sign recognition in the view by using a fast pattern matching technique called “boosting,” liking to a future system of vision navigator for guiding the gaze of low vision to a missing public sign and zooming into it. Optimization of classifier programs is discussed from decision tree standpoint separately.

Low vision is a visual impairment that cannot be corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses. Low vision people have functional vision and prefer using that vision instead of relying on audition and touch. Existing approaches to low vision accessibility enhance people's vision using simple "signal-to-signal" techniques that do not take into account the user's context. There is thus a major gap between low vision people's needs and existing low vision technologies. My doctorial research aims to address this gap by augmenting low vision people's visual experience with direct and optimal visual feedback based on the user's context. I will design and study novel methods for visual augmentation , which involves visual feedback beyond simple enhancements. My research considers two dimensions: visual condition and task. By understanding the visual perception of people with different visual abilities and exploring their needs in different visual tasks, I will design applications with visual feedback that is optimal for specific context to maximize people's access to information. My research will yield design insights and novel applications for people with all visual abilities.

While our community has many active projects involving blind people, low vision is rarely addressed. People with low vision have functional vision, but their visual impairment adversely affects their daily life and it cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Over the last few years, we have been conducting research with this understudied demographic: understanding low vision people's needs and designing applications to address the challenges they face. In this article, we discuss our ongoing research in this area, focusing on designing augmented reality applications for low vision users. We begin this article by describing low vision and motivating our focus on augmented reality applications on smartglasses for low vision people. We then provide overviews of three research projects that exemplify our research agenda: a study where we observed low vision people conducting a navigation and shopping task, a study where we examined low vision people's perception of virtual text and shapes on smartglasses, and the design of a smartglasses application that facilitates a visual search task.

Recent advances in head-mounted displays (HMDs) present an opportunity to design vision enhancement systems for people with low vision , whose vision cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. We aim to understand whether and how HMDs can aid low vision people in their daily lives. We designed ForeSee , an HMD prototype that enhances people’s view of the world with image processing techniques such as magnification and edge enhancement. We evaluated these vision enhancements with 20 low vision participants who performed four viewing tasks: image recognition and reading tasks from near- and far-distance. We found that participants needed to combine and adjust the enhancements to comfortably complete the viewing tasks. We then designed two input modes to enable fast and easy customization: speech commands and smartwatch-based gestures. While speech commands are commonly used for eyes-free input, our novel set of onscreen gestures on a smartwatch can be used in scenarios where speech is not appropriate or desired. We evaluated both input modes with 11 low vision participants and found that both modes effectively enabled low vision users to customize their visual experience on the HMD. We distill design insights for HMD applications for low vision and spur new research directions.

Recent advances in smart glasses technologies bare tremendous potential for people with low vision. In particular, the use of optical-see through smart glasses has been gaining momentum in the field. We examined how these devices are perceived by low vision people and factors that might influence their wide-scale adoption. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 29 low vision participants. We asked participants about desired functionalities, aesthetics (including wearing in public versus in private), preferred interaction mode, and willingness to carry support devices for increased functionality. We found that the majority of participants in this study preferred a compact device that looks most similar to a normal pair of glasses, preferred buttons as an inconspicuous mode of interaction, and are willing to carry support devices up to the size of a tablet to increase the functionality of the device. Our results underscore the importance of striking a balance between functionality and aspects such as inconspicuousness in terms of both aesthetics and device interaction, and inform further development of this promising technology.

Introduction: The development of coping strategies as well as the support tailored to the needs of people with low vision allow for minimizing the existing limitations. In this context, recognizing one’s developmental situation is of key importance, identifying factors helpful in developing one’s potential in particular. These factors undoubtedly include the resources at the disposal of people suffering from low vision. Research Aim: The aim of the research is to diagnose the psychosocial resources of people with low vision. Method: The study involved 110 low vision people and 110 sighted people at the age of 18–83, selected in terms of sex, age and education. The tools used in the research measured: basic hope, self-esteem and social support. Relevant calculations were made using the Student t-test for independent data. Results: The research showed that the low vision participants are characterized by a significantly lower intensity of basic hope. Moreover, they assess considerably less positively the properties that make up the family self and indicate that they receive significantly lower social support, both general and emotional as well as affirmative and practical. Conclusions: The obtained results indicate the necessity to undertake various actions aimed at improving the psychosocial functioning of people with low vision by optimizing their resources.

Augmented reality (AR) applications have been shown to improve accessibility for people with low vision by enhancing the visibility of surrounding objects. Yet, prior studies mostly examined controlled settings and often focused on developing solutions for specific functional challenges. A human remote assistant powered with AR capabilities may provide a flexible solution that addresses a variety of scenarios. To examine how AR-based remote assistance can help low-vision people in real-world settings, we examined the scenario of visiting a museum, which requires coping with a variety of tasks, from navigating between museum rooms to the accessibility of museum exhibits. We conducted a qualitative user study at an archeological museum with 11 low-vision participants who toured a predefined path while receiving real-time auditory explanations and AR annotations from a remote assistant. Our results reveal that the AR-based remote assistance improved the museum experience, assisting in mobility within the museum and the visibility of artifacts. The use of remote assistance proved to be dynamic and flexible, enabling real-time in-place annotations that helped guide low-vision participants, providing a stronger feeling of security. While acknowledging the transformative potential, participants highlighted challenges in accuracy and responsiveness, emphasizing the need to improve the design of real-time AR annotations. Our study is the first to examine the use of AR remote assistance in meeting the dynamic and diverse needs of people with low vision, illustrating both its potential and the challenges for this population.