This project applies novel engineering approaches to the problems of low vision rehabilitation.  We are building prototype devices based on solid theoretical foundations that, eventually, will become marketable rehabilitation products.  These devices, designed and built with the help of our engineering partners, are being tested experimentally using diverse patient populations, with the help of the clinical partners to determine the effects on function and on the quality of life. 

We are developing and testing both optical and electronic devices that implement three specific engineering approaches aimed at restoring (at least in part) the important interplay of central (high-resolution) and peripheral (wide-field) vision.  The three engineering approaches that we are exploring are multiplexing, dynamic control of display, and image enhancement. Also, we show that various combinations of these approaches are possible and likely to be beneficial.  In our assessment and testing we emphasize two approaches: a virtual environment for controlled and quantitative testing in the laboratory (virtual reality walk on a treadmill and driving simulator), and on-the-street evaluation for real-life determination of the effect and usefulness of the devices and techniques. 

Specifically we are developing and evaluating:

…        Prismatic correction to assist mobility of patients with hemianopia;

…        Prismatic correction to assist mobility of patients with binocular tunnel-vision;

…        A minified augmented viewing system (see-through HMD) to assist mobility of patients with tunnel-vision; 

…        Dynamic control of magnified images to assist patients with central field loss (CFL) view TV;

…        Image enhancement of various types to assist patients with CFL view TV;

A poster reporting recent progress in the project was presented at the 8th annual meeting of the Principle Investigators of the NIH BRP grants, June 23-24, 2008, Bethesda MD.
[ PDF 1.9 MB]

Partners for this project include:

Co-investigators

Russell Woods, Ph.D.

Alex Bowers, Ph.D.

Current Postdoctoral Fellows

Matt Bronstad, Ph.D.

Fuensanta Vera-Diaz, Ph.D.

Past Postdoctoral Fellows

Fernando Vargas-Martín, Ph.D.

Long To, Ph.D.

Xianping Fu, Ph.D.

Grant Support

NIH Grant 1R24EY12890, "Engineering Approaches to Low Vision Rehabilitation"

Patents

Peli E. (2008) Peripheral Field Expansion Device. US patent #7,374,284. [PDF 992 KB]

Peli E. (2006) Double bifocal telescopic IOL-spectacle device for low vision use. US patent application #60/310,664. [PDF 688 KB]

Peli E, Vargas FM. (2004) Bioptic telescope system embedded into a spectacle lens. US patent No. 6,775,060. [PDF 776 KB]

Peli E. (2003) Wide-band image enhancement. US patent No. 6,611,618. [PDF 3.3 MB]

Recent Publications

Woods RL, Giorgi RG, Berson EL, Peli E. (2009) Extended wearing trial of Trifield lens device for "Tunnel Vision". Submitted to Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics [PDF 308 KB]

Apfelbaum HL, Gambacorta C, Woods RL, Peli E (2009) Inattentional blindness with same scene at different scales. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, in press [PDF 162 KB]

Fu X, Luo G, Peli E. (2009) Tracking telescope aiming point for bioptic driving surveillance. International Conference on Image Processing, Computer Vision, and Pattern Recognition (IPCV'09), in press [PDF 538 KB]

Mandel A, Bowers A, Goldstein R, Peli E. (2008) Vehicle handling skills of drivers with hemianopia: a simulator assessment. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Low Vision, Vision 2008, in press [PDF 229 KB]

Doherty A, Bowers A, Woods RL, Peli E. (2008) Is the ring scotoma of a monocular telescope present when viewing binocularly? Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Low Vision, Vision 2008, in press [PDF 264 KB]

Bowers AR, Mandel AJ, Goldstein RB, Peli, E. (2009) Driving with hemianopia, I: detection performance in a driving simulator. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science 50(11): 5137-5147 [PDF 1.02 MB]

Peli E, Luo G, Bowers A, Rensing N. (2009) Development and evaluation of vision multiplexing devices for vision impairment. International Journal on Artificial Intelligence Tools 18(3): 365-378 [PDF 841 KB]

Giorgi RG, Woods RL, Peli E. (2009) Clinical and laboratory evaluation of peripheral prism glasses for hemianopia. Optometry and Vision Science 86(5): 492-502 Note: This version contains supplemental material not included in the OVS May 2009 printed journal. [PDF 5.87 MB] Data from this study is available on our "Data Sharing" page.

Luo G, Vargas-Martin F, Peli E. (2008) Role of peripheral vision in saccade planning and visual stability: Learning from people with tunnel vision. Journal of Vision 8(14):25, 1-8 [PDF 349 KB] Data from this study is available on our "Data Sharing" page.

Apfelbaum HL, Apfelbaum DH, Woods RL, Peli E. (2008) Inattentional blindness and augmented-vision displays: Effects of cartoon-like filtering and attended scene. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics 28(3): 204-217 [PDF 400 KB]

Peli E, Vargas-Martin F. (2008) In-the-spectacle-lens telescopic device. J Biomed Opt 2008; 13: 034027; DOI:10.1117/1.2940360 [PDF 789 KB]

Kooijman AC, Melis-Dankers BJM, Peli E, Brouwer WH, Pijnakker P, Van Delden G, Van Pluuren E, Van Iddekinge B, Derksen P, Wanders I, Witvliet JMD, Busscher RB, Bredewoud RA, De Vries J, Van Rosmalen JHM, Postema FJ. (2008) The introduction of bioptic driving in the Netherlands. Vis Impair Res 10: 1-6, 2008 [PDF 150 KB]

Peli E. (2008) Vision multiplexing: An optical engineering concept for low-vision aids. SPIE Conference on Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering VIII.
In press [PDF 1.93 MB]
Copyright 2007 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. This paper will be published as paper 6667-11 in the proceedings of the SPIE Conference on Current Developments in Lens Design and Optical Engineering VIII and is made available as an electronic preprint with permission of SPIE. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee of for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.

Peli E. (2008) Driving with Low Vision: who, where, when, and why. in Principles and Practice of Ophthalmology 3rd Ed. Elsevier, 2007. In Press [PDF 1.16 MB]

Bowers A, Keeney K, Peli E. (2008) Community-based trial of peripheral prism visual field expansion device for hemianopia. Arch Ophthalmol 126(5): 657-664 [PDF 239 KB ] The peripheral-prism fitting and training protocol for this study is available on our "Data Sharing" page.
Data from this study is available on our "Data Sharing" page.

Vera-Diaz FA, Peli E. (2008) Monocular fixation with the optic nerve head: a case report. Ophthal Physiol Opt 2008 28: 283-290 [PDF 450 KB] Data from this study is available on our "Data Sharing" page.

Peli E, Luo G, Bowers A, Rensing N. (2007) Applications of augmented-vision head-mounted systems in vision rehabilitation. J. SID 15(12): 1037-1045 [PDF 2.52 MB]

Mandel AJ, Bowers AR, Goldstein RB, Peli E. (2007) Analysis of driving behavior where it matters. In: Proceedings of the Driving Simulator Conference (DSC) North America 2007: 181-190 [PDF 469 KB]

Peli E, Luo G, Bowers A, Rensing N. (2007) Development and evaluation of vision multiplexing devices. International IEEE-BAIS Symposium on Research on Assistive Technologies (RAT-07) 1: 13-20. [PDF 446 KB]

Peli E, Luo G, Bowers A, Rensing N. (2007) Augmented vision head-mounted systems for vision impairments. The SID Int Symposium, Soc Information Display, Long Beach, CA 2007. SID 07 Digest 1074-1077. [PDF 1.32 MB]

Apfelbaum H, Pelah A, Peli E. (2007) Heading assessment by "tunnel vision" patients and control subjects standing or walking in a virtual reality environment. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception. 4(1): Article 8 [PDF 329 KB]
© 2007 ACM. Permission to make digital/hard copy of part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage, the copyright notice, the title of the publication, and its date of appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the ACM, Inc. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Permissions may be requested from Publications Dept., ACM, Inc., 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701, New York, NY 10121-0701 USA, fax +1 (212) 869-0481, or permissions@acm.org. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, Vol. 4, No. 1, Article 8, Publication date: January 2007.

Lichtenstein L, Barabas J, Woods RL, Peli E. (2007) A feedback-controlled interface for treadmill locomotion in virtual environments. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception. 4(1): Article 7 [PDF 332 KB]
© 2007 ACM. Permission to make digital/hard copy of part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage, the copyright notice, the title of the publication, and its date of appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the ACM, Inc. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Permissions may be requested from Publications Dept., ACM, Inc., 2 Penn Plaza, Suite 701, New York, NY 10121-0701 USA, fax +1 (212) 869-0481, or permissions@acm.org. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, Vol. 4, No. 1, Article 7, Publication date: January 2007.

Luo G, Lichtenstein L, Peli E. (2007) Collision judgement when viewing minified images through a HMD visual field expander. Proceedings of SPIE, Ophthalmic Technologies XVII, vol. 6426, 64261Z, 2007. [PDF 6.4 MB]

Goldstein RB, Woods RL, Peli E. (2007) Where people look when watching movies: Do all viewers look at the same place? Computers in Biology and Medicine. 37(7): 957-964 [PDF 300 KB]

Vargas-Martín F, Peli E. (2006) Eye Movements of patients with tunnel vision while walking. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 47(12): 5295-5302. [PDF 956 KB]

Luo G, Peli E. (2006) Use of an augmented-vision device for visual search in patients with tunnel vision. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 47(9): 4152-4159. [PDF 323 KB]

Peli E, Bowers A, Mandel A, Higgins K, Goldstein RB, Bobrow L. (2005) The design of driving simulator performance evaluations for driving with vision impairments and visual aids. Transportation Research Report: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 1937, 128-135. [PDF 1.7 MB]

Goldstein RB, Woods RL, Peli E. (2005) Scanpaths of motion sequences: where people look when watching movies. Proceedings of the Fourth Starkfest Conference on Vision and Movement in Man and Machines, 2005 School of Optometry, UC Berkeley. 18-21. [PDF 264 KB]

Zebehazy K, Zimmerman G, Bowers A, Luo G, Peli E. Establishing Mobility Measures to Assess the Effectiveness of Night Vision Devices: Results of a Pilot Study. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. 99(10) 663-670 [PDF 45 KB]
This article is not the final published version (it is the final accepted manuscript). The version published in the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness is available at: http://www.afb.org/jvib/JVIB9910toc.asp Posted with the permission of AFB Press, American Foundation for the Blind, from K. Zebehazy, G. Zimmerman, A. Bowers, G. Luo and E. Peli , Establishing Mobility Measures to Assess the Effectiveness of Night Vision Devices: Results of a Pilot Study Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 99(10) 663-670, copyright © 2005 by AFB Press. All rights reserved.

Luo G, Rensing N, Weststrate E, Peli E. (2005) Registration of an on-axis see-through headmounted display and camera system. Optical Engineering 44(2), 024002. [PDF 463 KB]
© 2005 SPIE. This paper was published in Optical Engineering and is made available as an electronic reprint (preprint) with permission of SPIE. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic or multiple reproduction, distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.

Bowers A, Peli E, Elgin J, McGwin G, Owsley C (2005) Assessing Driving Performance With Moderate Visual Field Loss. Proceedings of the 3rd International Driving Symposium on Human Factors in Driver Assessment, Training, and Vehicle Design on June 27-30, 2005, in Rockport, Maine. [PDF 51 KB]

Bowers A, Peli E, Elgin J, McGwin G, Owsley C (2004) On-Road Driving with Moderate Visual Field Loss. Optometry and Vision Science. 82(8):657-667. [PDF 700 KB]

Barabas J, Woods R, Peli E (2005) Walking Simulator for Evaluation of Ophthalmic Devices. Proc. of SPIE-IS&T Electronic Imaging, SPIE Vol. 5666, Human Vision and Electronic Imaging X, edited by BE Rogowitz, TN Pappas and SJ Daly, 2005, 424-433, SPIE. [PDF 988 KB]

Apfelbaum HL, Apfelbaum DH, Woods RL, Peli E. (2005) The effect of edge filtering on vision multiplexing. SID 05 Digest of Technical Papers, 2005. 1398-1401. [PDF 1.9 MB]

Bowers AR, Apfelbaum DH, Peli E. (2005) Bioptic telescopes meet the needs of drivers with moderate visual acuity loss. Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 46(1): 66-74 [PDF 142 KB]

Bowers AR, Luo G, Rensing NM, Peli E. (2004) Evaluation of a prototype minified augmented-view device for patients with impaired night vision. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 24: 296-312. [PDF 500 KB]
This is an electronic version of an article published in Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics© 24:296-312 [2004] The College of Optometrists

Luo G, Peli E. (2004) Kinematics of visual search by tunnel vision patients with augmented vision see-through HMD. SID 2004, Digest of Technical Papers, Society for Information Display 2004. 1578-1581. [PDF 440 KB]

Barabas J, Goldstein RB, Apfelbaum H, Woods RL, Giorgi RG, Peli E. (2004) Tracking the line of primary gaze in a walking simulator: modeling and calibration. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 2004. 36(4): 757-770 [PDF 786 KB]

Sodhi M, Reimer B, Tant M, Peli E, Bowers A, Woods RL, Higgins K, Turco P. (2003) Driver performance evaluation: Considerations underlying selection and design of routes. Vision in Vehicles X, Elsivier Sciences Publishers B.V. Amsterdam. In press. [PDF 248 KB]

Tang J, Peli E, Acton S. (2003) Image enhancement using a contrast measure in the compression domain. IEEE Signal Processing Letters, 10 (10): 289-292. [PDF 492 KB]

© 2003 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists or to reuse any copyrighted componant of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.

Woods RL, Fetchenheuer I, Vargas-Martin F, Peli E. (2003) The impact of non-immersive HMDs on the visual field. J Soc Information Display, 11(1): 191-198. [PDF 1.1 MB]

Goldstein RB, Apfelbaum H, Luo G, Peli E. (2003) Dynamic magnification of video for people with visual impairment. SID 2003, Digest of Technical Papers, Society for Information Display 2003. 1152-1155 [PDF 408 KB]

Jamara RJ, Peli E, Van de Velde F. (2003) Scanning eye movements in homonymous hemianopia documented by scanning laser ophthalmoscope retinal perimetry. Optom Vis Sci 80(7): 495-504 [PDF 2.3 MB]

Garcia-Perez MA, Peli E. (2003) Simple non-invasive measurement of rapid eye vibration. J Sound and Vibration, 262: 877-888. [PDF 336 KB]

Peli E. (2002) Treating with spectacle lenses: a novel idea!? 2001 Glenn A. Fry Award Lecture. Optom Vision Sci, 79: 569-580.
Galley Proof: [PDF 1.3 MB] small file size
Published Copy: [PDF 8.3 MB] LARGE FILE SIZE

Peli E. (2002) Low vision Driving in the USA: who, where, when, and why. CE Optometry, 5(2): 54-58. [PDF 376 KB]

Vargas-Martin F, Peli E. (2002) Augmented view for restricted visual field: multiple device implementations. Optometry and Vision Science, 79(11), 715-723. [PDF 1.0 MB]

Peli E, Peli D. (2002) Driving with Confidence: A Practical Guide to Driving with Low Vision. Singapore, New Jersey, London, Hong Kong: World Scientific Publishing Co: 2002. 192 p. Click here to order.

Li L, Peli E, Warren WH. (2002) Heading perception in patients with advanced retinitus pigmentosa. Optom Vision Sci, 79(9): 581-589. [PDF 1.1 MB]

Peli E. (2002) The optical functional advantages of an intraocular low vision telescope. Optometry and Vision Sciences. 79: 225-233. [PDF 1.6 MB]

Peli E. (2002) Feature detection algorithm based on a visual system model. Proceedings of the IEEE. 90: 78-93. [PDF 480KB]

© 2003 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists or to reuse any copyrighted componant of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.

Peli E, Vargas-Martin F. (2002) In the spectacle-lens telescope device for low vision. Proceedings of the SPIE Vol 4611; Ophthalmic Technologies XII, paper 20, in press. [PDF 1.0 MB]

Peli E. (2001) Vision multiplexing - an engineering approach to vision rehabilitation device development. Optometry and Vision Science, 78: 304-315. [Manuscript, PDF 938 KB]

Peli E, Lipshitz I, Dotan G. (2000) Implantable Miniaturized Telescope (IMT) for low vision. Vision Rehabilitation: Assessment, Intervention and Outcomes. Selected papers from Vision '99: International Conference on Low Vision. Stuen C. et. al editors, Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, p. 200-203. [PDF (413 KB)] or [html]

Peli E. (2000) Field Expansion for Homonymous Hemianopia by Optically Induced Peripheral Exotropia.  Optom Vision Sci, 77:453-464. [PDF 1.26 MB]

Peli E. (2000) Treating Hemianopia Using Prisms to Create Peripheral Diplopia.  Vision Rehabilitation: Assessment, Intervention and Outcomes. Selected papers from Vision '99: International Conference on Low Vision. C. Stuen et al editors, Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, p. 104-109. [Video Simulation] [PDF (78 KB)]      

Peli E. (2000) Augmented vision for central scotoma and peripheral field loss.  Vision Rehabilitation: Assessment, Intervention and Outcomes. Selected papers from Vision '99: International Conference on Low Vision. C. Stuen et al editors, Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, p. 70-74. [Video Simulation] [PDF (228 KB)] or [html]

Peli E. (1999) Field Expansion for Homonymous Hemianopia using Prism and Peripheral Diplopia. Technical Digest on Vision Science and it Applications, Technical Digest Series Vol 1, 74-77 (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC). [PDF (974 KB)] or [html]

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