Virtual reality training for low vision: a safe way to practice street skills?
NCT ID NCT04639531
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tested whether virtual reality (VR) training can teach people with low vision how to cross streets safely. 117 participants were split into three groups: VR training, training with a human instructor on real streets, or watching educational videos. Their street-crossing skills were tested before, right after, and 3 months after training. The goal was to see if VR training works as well as human-led training.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Virtual reality-based orientation and mobility training
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could provide a safe, automated way for people with low vision to practice street-crossing skills without going into traffic.
- What could go wrong
- This is a completed early-stage trial with a modest sample size. The VR training may not be as effective as in-person instruction, and results may not apply to all types of vision loss.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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117 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Aug 2023
- Finished
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Jun 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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13 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Have stable, late-onset visual impairment. * Not have had formal O\&M training. Potential participants will be taken to real streets by COMS and their performance on the 3 studied tasks will be evaluated. * Following visual function requirements for the three studied O\&M tasks * Task NLPT: best corrected visual acuity of 20/650 or worse * Task TGJ: * central vision loss - acuity 20/100-20/300, radius of field 50-80 deg * peripheral vision loss - acuity 20/15-20/100, radius of field 5-55 deg * Task ONS: visual function requirements for both Tasks NLPT \& TGJ * Possess sufficient functional vision to learn the O\&M tasks (evaluated by COMS in real streets) * Have O\&M as a rehabilitation goal * Normal or corrected to normal hearing * No cognitive impairment (Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) or MoCA-blind (MoCA-B) score exceeds education-adjusted cutoffs) * Dexterity to operate a pointing mouse or a joystick * Physical stamina to walk a few street blocks under guidance of COMSs and to stand or sit for 30-min training sessions on the street or in the VR simulator Exclusion Criteria: * Patients in the rapid progression phase of ocular diseases, such as wet macular degeneration * Patients under aggressive treatment of ocular diseases, such as VEGF injection for retinal diseases * Patients with congenital visual impairment will be excluded. * Participants will be excluded from the training for the skills that they already master. * Participants who have a history of epileptic seizure or are prone to motion sickness will be excluded. * Have difficulty in verbal communication in English.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind
Talladega, Alabama, 35160, United States
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University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, 35226, United States
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