The use of applications in smartphones vs. portable specific electronic devices to compare the reading speed in low vision

Abstract

Purpose: Difficulty in reading is one of the most common problems faced by visually impaired people (VIP). The clinician may recommend the use of specifically designed optical aids or electronic vision enhancement systems (EVES) to aid with this task. Whilst optical aids are available free of charge through the NHS, EVES can cost £200-2000. There are now free apps which can turn a standard smartphone into a portable EVES. This study investigated the reading speed achievable with the use of these apps in smart phones compared to specific portable devices for VIPs. Method: Reading performance was measured with two groups of normally sighted individuals (under age 35 and over age 60) with two different levels of simulated impairment (mild and moderate). The portable EVES device was used both hand-held and on a stand, and compared with two different free apps tested with a smart phone, one of which used image stabilisation. Performance was also measured with several different colour display choices available on the portable EVES (eg with black-on-white text converted to yellow-on-blue). A new reading test (150 random common words) was developed for this study and was tested for repeatability. Result: The coefficient of repeatability of reading test (CoR) was ± 14 wpm for the younger group and ± 9 wpm for the older group. The reading speed in “moderate impairment” was slower than “mild impairment” for both groups. The reading speed was significantly slower in the older group using all the different methods. Also, the older group read significantly slower than the young group with all colour displays in both mild and moderate impairment. The highest reading speed in mild impairment was by using a stand-mounted EVES for both groups, while in moderate impairment the highest reading speed was by using a hand-held EVES for the young group and a stand-mounted EVES for the older group. For the colours, the black-on-white had the highest reading speed for both levels of impairment for both groups. Conclusion: CoR was comparable to that of other reading tests, and the test may therefore prove to be useful when measuring the effect of interventions to improve vision. Also, it obvious that the highest reading speed can obtain by using p-EVES compared to apps in smartphones.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2018
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester