title: Simulating visibility under reduced acuity and contrast sensitivity.
abstract: Architects and lighting designers have difficulty designing spaces that are accessible to those with low vision, since the complex nature of most architectural spaces requires a site-specific analysis of the visibility of mobility hazards and key landmarks needed for navigation. We describe a method that can be utilized in the architectural design process for simulating the effects of reduced acuity and contrast on visibility. The key contribution is the development of a way to parameterize the simulation using standard clinical measures of acuity and contrast sensitivity. While these measures are known to be imperfect predictors of visual function, they provide a way of characterizing general levels of visual performance that is familiar to both those working in low vision and our target end-users in the architectural and lighting-design communities. We validate the simulation using a letter-recognition task.
authors.forename: William B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Gordon E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Legge
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kersten
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Shakespeare
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lei
mesh_terms: D015350:Contrast Sensitivity / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008027:Light; D009799:Ocular Physiological Phenomena; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014785:Vision, Ocular; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*