Virtual environments for visually impaired people

Niveau : Master 2

Période : Spring / summer 2024

In the context of an ongoing collaboration between the Ophthalmology Department at CHU
Nantes and the LS2N, this project aims to further advance the development of virtual reality
applications for enhanced monitoring and medical care of individuals afflicted with visual
impairments. Building upon a preliminary project focused on constructing a virtual pathway
for evaluating patient mobility, our objective is to extend this endeavor to create novel
virtual environments more tailored to diverse visual pathologies, including diminished
central or peripheral visual fields, contrast or color vision loss, …
These environments will be designed in partnership with medical interns as well as
orthoptists actively engaged in the project. The primary objectives of these environments
encompass the evaluation of functional vision in ecologically relevant tasks. Additionally,
through the implementation of scotoma simulations, the project seeks to sensitize and educate practitioners and caregivers about the impact of visual deficiencies on the daily lives of patients.
The project will progress through the following phases:
– Conducting a literature review and gathering experiential insights from visually impaired
individuals regarding virtual reality.
– Conducting a literature review and gathering experiential insights on functional vision, tasks, and visual deficits.
– Delineation of environments, tasks, and scenarios.
– VR design & implementation
– Conducting ergonomic tests involving practitioners, healthy subjects with simulated
scotomas, and actual patients.

• Toinon Vigier, Associate Professor, LS2N, Nantes Université
• Pierre Lebranchu, Full Professor, Medical Doctor (Ophthalmo), CHU, LS2N, Nantes
  Université
• Patrick Le Callet, Full Professor, LS2N, Nantes Université