Smart Glasses for CVI: Co-Designing Extended Reality Solutions to Support Environmental Perception by People with Cerebral Visual Impairment

TL;DR

This study explores how smart glasses can be co-designed with users with CVI to improve environmental perception and interaction, addressing a significant gap in assistive technology for this underrepresented condition.

Contribution

It presents a novel co-design process using extended reality glasses to support people with CVI, involving iterative development and user feedback.

Findings

Smart glasses help locate objects and read text more easily.

Participants recognized people and engaged in conversations better.

The approach addresses sensory stress and environmental understanding.

Abstract

Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) is the set to be the leading cause of vision impairment, yet remains underrepresented in assistive technology research. Unlike ocular conditions, CVI affects higher-order visual processing-impacting object recognition, facial perception, and attention in complex environments. This paper presents a co-design study with two adults with CVI investigating how smart glasses, i.e. head-mounted extended reality displays, can support understanding and interaction with the immediate environment. Guided by the Double Diamond design framework, we conducted a two-week diary study, two ideation workshops, and ten iterative development sessions using the Apple Vision Pro. Our findings demonstrate that smart glasses can meaningfully address key challenges in locating objects, reading text, recognising people, engaging in conversations, and managing sensory stress. With the rapid advancement of smart glasses and increasing recognition of CVI as a distinct form of vision impairment, this research addresses a timely and under-explored intersection of technology and need.