VR Amblyopia Trainer

Project leader: Björn Eskofier
Project members: Georg Michelson

Start date: 1. April 2018

End date: 30. June 2020 – Extended to 30.06.2020

Funding source: Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft und Medien, Energie und Technologie (StMWIVT) (ab 10/2013)

Abstract

Vision Impairments
like amblyopia can be treated by digital therapies using virtual reality systems.
These therapies help to avoid or at least reduce the lifelong consequences due
to developmental disorders. Amblyopia is a functional vision impairment of a
single eye based on insufficient development of the visual system in early
childhood. In Central Europe the prevalence of amblyopia is about 5 – 6%.
Amblyopia is the main reason for vision impairments during the first 45 years
of life. Occlusion therapy as the current gold standard in therapy treats only
the weak eye at the expense of binocular vision and is associated with disadvantages:
amblyopic childs treated by occlusion therapy showed a decrease in visual acuity
in the healthy eye by almost half of the increase in visual acuity in the
amblyopic eye after the treatment. The here proposed VR-AMBLOYPIE TRAINER is
not intended to show these deficits as it does not utilize occlusion but rather
improves binocular vision. Virtual Reality is said to be the upcoming key
technology in medicine. Educational, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches increasingly
make use of this technology.

The aim of the novel therapeutic
concept of the VR-AMBLOYPIE TRAINER is the increase of visual acuity in the weak
eye as well as training the binocular vision. The task of the amblyope is to return
balls to a virtual player. The amblyope is playfully interacting with the system.
Thereby the task can only be accomplished if both eyes work together and
important depth information can be extracted to correctly return the ball. Repetitive
performing of this visual task with increasing level of difficulty helps to improve
binocular vision.