|
 The OrCam artificial vision device uses a camera attached to any
pair of glasses to recognize objects and then communicate that to
the wearer through an earpiece, according to a report in JAMA
Opthalmology.
"If patients have advanced (eye) disease which is beyond medical and
surgical therapy and they have lost their ability to read, I think
the OrCam is at least one instrument they may wish to use to be more
independent," said senior researcher Dr. Mark Mannis, of the
University of California Davis Eye Center in Sacramento.
About 2 percent of people in the U.S. have low vision, which is
usually caused by eye diseases like age-related macular degeneration
and glaucoma, according to the National Eye Institute (NEI). The
condition may also be caused by injuries and birth defects.
The OrCam device is "really a remarkable innovation," Mannis told
Reuters Health.
For example, he said, a person can "look" at a person entering a
room, and the OrCam device will tell the wearer who it is. It can
also read the text on a page, or tell people the value of paper
money.
For the study, Mannis and his colleague Dr. Elad Moisseiev recruited
12 legally blind people between July and September 2015. The average
age was 62.
Participants completed a 10-item functionality test, which included
- among other daily life activities - reading an email on an
electronic screen, recognizing money, reading a newspaper,
recognizing different brands and reading distant signs.
They completed the functionality test once without vision aids, once
with any vision aids they had available and then with the OrCam.
Each participant received a 90- to 120-minute training session on
the OrCam.
The average functionality score without vision aids was 2.5 out of a
possible 10. That score jumped to 9.5 once the participants put on
the OrCam devices.
[to top of second column] |
After a week of using the OrCam devices, the participants returned
to the lab to complete the functionality test again. Their score
increased to an average of 9.8.
"Pretty much across the board there was tremendous improvement in
their ability to perform," said Mannis.
At the end of the study, the devices were returned to OrCam's
manufacturer, which did not fund the research. But Mannis said
several of the participants have acquired the device and are using
it daily. The device costs between $2,500 to $3,500.
Mannis said there are other types of character converters, but they
weren't able to test those devices. The OrCam, however, is innocuous
and inconspicuous compared to other bulky devices, he said.
"It provides a patient with severe disability with an incredible
amount of independence," he said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1WJT9sh JAMA Opthalmology, online May 5, 2016.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
