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Critical viewing distances for low vision people

 

Seattle, Wash. — Individuals with low vision commonly complain that they find it difficult to see faces. This is especially true for individuals who encounter issues in central vision clarity. Such difficulties can be isolating to them. This week at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s (ARVO) 2024 Annual Meeting, a study utilized a measurement called critical viewing distance (CVD) to assess individuals’ ability to identify matching faces, discriminate emotions and detect visual speech.

Yingzi Xiong, PhD, and her team studied 19 people with low vision, which included 11 people with age-related macular degeneration. They participated in three tasks to test their ability to recognize faces, identify emotions and detect visual speech. They viewed face images on a screen from different distances and had their performance measured. Results showed that participants needed to be closer to the screen to recognize emotions compared to identifying faces or detecting visual speech. Despite having difficulty recognizing faces and emotions at a typical social distance of six feet, they could still detect visual speech. Better eye acuity and contrast sensitivity were important factors affecting their performance in all tasks.

Xiong shared, “Difficulties with seeing faces can make an individual with low vision hesitant to meet friends and become socially isolated. Our study provides an intuitive measure of ‘critical viewing distance’ for faces that can help low vision individuals [understand] their vision functions; and conveys positive messages about the value of residual vision in social interactions."

  • Abstract title: Seeing faces from a distance: critical viewing distances for identity, emotion, and visual speech in individuals with low vision
  • Presentation start/end time: Sunday, May 5, 1 – 1:15pm PT
  • Location: Chelan Level 2, Seattle Convention Center – Arch Building
  • Presentation number: 437

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The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) is the largest eye and vision research organization in the world. Members include approximately 10,000 eye and vision researchers from over 75 countries. ARVO advances research worldwide into understanding the visual system and preventing, treating and curing its disorders. Learn more at ARVO.org.

Media contact:
Jenniffer Scherhaufer, MMC, CAE
1.240.221.2923
media@arvo.org

 

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