A Systematic Review of Extended Reality (XR) for Understanding and Augmenting Vision Loss

TL;DR

This systematic review examines how XR technologies are used to assist and study vision loss, highlighting research gaps and emphasizing the need for real-world validation and user-centered design to improve accessibility tools.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of 227 studies across disciplines, focusing on residual vision augmentation and emphasizing the importance of end-user participation and qualitative usability assessments.

Findings

Need for real-world validation of XR aids

Importance of early end-user participation

Shift towards qualitative usability evaluations

Abstract

Over the past decade, extended reality (XR) has emerged as an assistive technology not only to augment residual vision of people losing their sight but also to study the rudimentary vision restored to blind people by a visual neuroprosthesis. To make the best use of these emerging technologies, it is valuable and timely to understand the state of this research and identify any shortcomings that are present. Here we present a systematic literature review of 227 publications from 106 different venues assessing the potential of XR technology to further visual accessibility. In contrast to other reviews, we sample studies from multiple scientific disciplines, focus on augmentation of a person's residual vision, and require studies to feature a quantitative evaluation with appropriate end users. We summarize prominent findings from different XR research areas, show how the landscape has changed over the last decade, and identify scientific gaps in the literature. Specifically, we highlight the need for real-world validation, the broadening of end-user participation, and a more nuanced understanding of the suitability and usability of different XR-based accessibility aids. By broadening end-user participation to early stages of the design process and shifting the focus from behavioral performance to qualitative assessments of usability, future research has the potential to develop XR technologies that may not only allow for studying vision loss, but also enable novel visual accessibility aids with the potential to impact the lives of millions of people living with vision loss.