'Augmented Reality' Glasses Tackle Tunnel Vision
From: New Scientist - 08/31/2006
By: Mason Inman

Harvard Medical School ophthalmologist Eli Peli has developed a device that
superimposes computer-generated images over real scenes to help people with
tunnel vision find objects outside of their narrow field of view. The
so-called augmented reality system makes use of eyeglasses that have a small
camera designed to feed wide-angle images to a small computer the viewer
wears. The computer, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, strips away all
details in a scene other than the edges of objects, then forwards the
cartoon-like outline of the objects to a transparent display on one lens of
the glasses. The computer updates the image 30 times per second, changing the
scene every time the viewer moves his or her head. The device allows people
with tunnel vision to find objects faster, and more details of test results
will be available in the September issue of Investigative Ophthalmology &
Visual Science. "This is the most promising thing that I've seen in years,"
says ophthalmologist Henry Greene at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. "It's the only one able to combine electronically produced
imagery with normal vision to allow patients to become aware of things they
couldn't before." The device may benefit people who have other vision
problems, observers believe.  

Read the entire article at:
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn9886
http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn9886-augmented-reality-glasses-tackle-tunnel-vision-.html

Links:
Eli Peli
http://www.eri.harvard.edu/faculty/peli/index.html

New device may improve vision and mobility for people with tunnel vision
http://www.schepens.org/tunnel_vision_release.htm
http://www.medgadget.com/archives/2006/08/new_device_to_i.html
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/seri-ndm082906.php
http://channels.lockergnome.com/news/archives/20060830_new_device_may_improve_vision_and_mobility_for_people_with_tunnel_vision.phtml
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/523088/
http://www.whatsnextnetwork.com/technology/index.php/2006/08/29/electronic_glasses_may_improve_vision_an

Use of an Augmented-Vision Device for Visual Search by Patients with Tunnel Vision
http://www.iovs.org/cgi/content/abstract/47/9/4152

The New Vision Aid System To Assist Tunnel Vision Patients
http://www.medgear.org/entry/the-new-vision-aid-system-to-assist-tunnel-vision-patients/

Vision And Mobility For People With Tunnel Vision May Be Improved By New Device 
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=50765&nfid=rssfeeds