I was invited to attend the SOMA conference – Southeastern Orientation and Mobility Association, where we showed some of the new curriculum-based games we are building for visually impaired students. More on that in another blog.
At that conference, there was a table that had devices for people to wear, similar to this photo:
Intrigued, I asked Dr. George Zimmerman, standing by that table, \ why people use these silly goggles. I learned that he created them to help family members, colleagues and orientation & mobility specialists understand the vision of a person with vision impairment.
Normal vision is 20/20. His kit comes with four visual acuity lenses to emulate 20/70, 20/200, 20/500 and a 20/800, three peripheral field loss simulations of 3°, 7°, 10°, and other lenses which simulate macular degeneration (for both near and distance viewing), cataract, scotoma, and hemianopsia. Also included are four black occluder lenses., to completely block one of your eyes.
As with most conferences, giving something to the attendees is a great way for them to remember you. George had miniature versions of minions to give away: