Visual telerehabilitation in the Covid-19 era: tradition meets innovation

[EN] Visual telerehabilitation is crucial to rise to the challenges of Covid-19 in order to advocate impaired individuals’ adaptation and social inclusion. The present research aims at detecting the predictors of the visual telerehabilitation protocol’s best outcome, also exploring variables’ interactions. The protocol by Chiossone Institute (Italy, Genoa) was administered in 2020 (March-May). Patients weekly video-called the orthoptists (by tablet or PC) to follow a personalized program on residual vision and diagnosis. The sample included seventy-five visually impaired individuals, across different age ranges (n=46 children and n=29 adults), who had all begun in person rehabilitation before pandemic. To detect the predictors of visual telerehabilitation effectiveness, orthoptists completed a self-report sheet with evaluation of the reaction time, participants socio-demographical data, diagnosis, residual vision, telematic session time-length, compliance level.  Descriptive, linear regression, and moderation analyses were implemented. Children’s reaction time was predicted by age, sessions’ time-length, and compliance. Adults’ reaction time was predicted by sessions’ time length, without significant moderators. These findings encourage the combination of traditional setting elements and technological innovation.Perasso, G.; Baghino, C.; Capris, E.; Cocchi, E.; Dini, S.; Facchini, V.; Panizzi, A.... (2022). Visual telerehabilitation in the Covid-19 era: tradition meets innovation. En Proceedings INNODOCT/21. International Conference on Innovation, Documentation and Education. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 41-48. https://doi.org/10.4995/INN2021.2021.13321OCS414

Realter: An Immersive Simulator to Support Low-Vision Rehabilitation

The project REALTER (wearable egocentric altered reality simulator) exploits immersive technologies and extended reality (XR) environments to support low-vision rehabilitation, by offering an immersive simulator of low-vision conditions. Perceiving and navigating the world as low-vision individuals has the potential of being a useful tool for ophthalmologists and visual rehabilitators to increase empathy with the assisted population and to improve the existing therapeutic techniques. Additionally, by analyzing ocular movements acquired during experimental sessions with healthy-sighted individuals in a condition of simulated low vision, researchers may collect quantitative data to extend the state of the art in understanding the behavioral changes of low-vision persons. The project involved the implementation of an immersive system by using commercial device tools currently available on the market. The hardware consists of an immersive virtual reality (VR) headset with an integrated eye tracker and a pair of external cameras, to provide gaze-contingent altered/extended reality (XR) content by a pass-through modality. The software can realistically simulate several low-vision conditions, such as age-relatedmacular degeneration, glaucoma, and hemianopsia, and simultaneously acquire eye and head movements for data analysis