In a recent research, a completely dark room was covered with glowing computer screens of different sizes. A visually impaired individual was made to stand in the center of this dark room. Also, every screen showcased a different reality with a completely differing experience from each other. As a result, a new form of media could be experienced by any random individual. But, Jamie Soar, the individual who was in the room could see for the very first time in his life.
Retinitis Pigmentosa is a hereditary eye condition which makes Soar extremely near-sighted. Hence, he uses the blind cane at night or places with no lighting. He is also affected by the constant double vision which is caused by a condition named- Diplopia. Meanwhile, after his experience in the unique darkroom, there was no wall between him and his vision, not even his medical conditions. 
How does Virtual Reality help Visually Impaired?
In reality, the fluorescent lights inside the PC room were buzzing and humming was caused by the air-conditioner. Few minutes prior to this, Soar has tried HTC Vive for the first time. Vive made Soar feel like he’s exposed to the computer screens at the closest distance. The proximity gave him a clear view right from a book on the screen to a video too.
Soar shared the following experience when asked about -“I was interested in VR from the beginning but knew I had to try it myself,” Soar explained in an interview with UploadVR. “Part of me thought that something strapped to my face might work because of my reliance of things being up close. Where I lived in England there were essentially no demos, so when I saw that there would be one in London — even though it would only be a 15-20 minute experience — I decided to make the long journey and go for it.“The more I thought about it the more I was thinking about things like the Nintendo 3DS or 3D movies.They just didn’t work for me. Nothing had ever worked for me until I tried the Vive. We have seen the immense benefits of VR in the field of medicine through our earlier articles. This for sure is another feather in VR’s hat. Unlike other medical requirements, this situation is very peculiar and a low hanging fruit to realize early benefits.
Keep coming to AffinityVR to know about many other innovations through Virtual Reality in the medical field.
