11 November 2019
Sight loss charity Fight for Sight has established a new visual simulator that is designed to show users what everyday life looks like through the eyes of someone with a sight loss condition.
Launched last week (6 November), the tool uses Google Street View, allowing users to select any location in the world before picking a sight loss condition for the location to be viewed through. Conditions that can be simulated include glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
Fight for Sight explained that the simulator is designed to raise awareness of the difficulties that people living with a sight loss condition face, encouraging people to support research that aims to find better treatments for these conditions.
Speaking about the new simulator, Fight for Sight supporter, Niki de Lara, who has uveitic glaucoma, said it would help her friends and family imagine what it is like to see through her eyes. “I hope it will raise awareness of the efforts of sight loss and encourage more people to support research funded by Fight for Sight,” she added.
Chief executive of Fight for Sight, Sherine Krause, emphasised: “There are currently over two million people living with sight loss in the UK and this is set to double by 2050. In spite of this, eye research remains desperately underfunded. At Fight for Sight, we know that early stage research holds the answers to finding better treatments and cures. We’re on the cusp of so many breakthroughs but we need more public awareness and support.”
The simulator can be accessed via Fight for Sight’s website.
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