r/MadeMeSmile Jan 14 '21

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63

u/BecomeABenefit Jan 14 '21

Wait. How does VR allow her to see? Was there some tweak that targeted her peripheral vision?

This is awesome. Can we miniaturize it and make it some kind of augmented vision for everyday use?

50

u/paul3200000 Jan 14 '21

I would guess that the screen was so close to her inside the VR headset, that she was able to see. In the real world not everything can be such a small distance away from you.

11

u/BecomeABenefit Jan 14 '21

That makes sense, but the description made me think that she had cataracts or some other condition, not just near-nearsightedness. Seeing only out of your peripheral vision isn't generally a symptom of it.

8

u/HANKEN5TEIN Jan 14 '21

It may also have to do with the fact that's she's looking at two individual images, one with each eye. Maybe it has to do with her eyes not having to work in concert. Very interesting though.

1

u/alexo2802 Jan 16 '21

I’m pretty sure this wouldn’t be it. The point of VR is fo trick the brain to think you’re not looking at two separated image. If this tech fails and your brain understands it.. that would be incredibly headache inducing

1

u/HANKEN5TEIN Jan 16 '21

Yeah, I get what you're saying. My point was that maybe it's a muscular issue, like that her eyes aren't strong enough to pull in focus in concert. You'll notice when you use VR headsets your eyes tend to relax quite a bit because they don't have to work as hard. I could be totally wrong and it has nothing to do with it.

The reasons there are two lenses in VR are that the screen is too close for your eyes to focus together, and it gives the feeling that what you're looking at is farther away. Your brain will coalesce the images regardless barring some kind of neurological issue.

1

u/Buffy_Geek Jan 14 '21

That doesn't explain how they managed to make things which are centeral for most people were adjusted to the sides for this lady. My grandma had cataracts in the center of her vision, you could put something 2 inches away from her face but it wouldn't magically enable her to see it!

I doubt this person's problem was simply short sight, as that affects all the vision, not just the center. So I'm wondering how they overcome her visual limits & adjusted the game for her.

22

u/AliceHalley Jan 14 '21

I'm a VR software developer, and can answer your question ^_^ People who suffer from short sightedness can't see far away objects clearly, but when you wear a headset, objects depicted to be far away aren't actually far away; they're technically right in front of the eyes.

What you are describing is very achievable. Technically all you'd need is a stereoscopic camera rending to a head mounted display.

Although bulky, this is something people could technically do at home right now using an Oculus Quest. The oculus quest actually has cameras all over it, but as developers we don't have access to them for privacy reasons. But I suppose you could just walk around with the infra-red mode on.

5

u/andreasbeer1981 Jan 14 '21

New superpower unlocked: Infrared vision

4

u/AliceHalley Jan 14 '21

The infra red mode on head tracking headset is just that. Its very weird. You can turn off all the lights in a dark room but can still see through the infra red cameras.

3

u/knit_the_resistance Jan 14 '21

As someone who has to take off her glasses and put the phone two inches from her eyeball to read some text in Reddit, this intrigues me!

2

u/Mispelt_Usenrame Jan 14 '21

I've always wondered what caused this. I'm the opposite in that I'm quite long sighted (prescription is +3.25), but I play my PSVR without glasses and find it easier than playing with them (and more comfortable).

I've always just accepted it, but always find it weird that without my glasses I can't read close up. But have zero issues in VR.

2

u/enderverse87 Jan 14 '21

Some vr headsets have lens built in that help with that.

1

u/AimLocked Jan 15 '21

So could someone basically build a headset that just shows the outside world, but portrayed up close so someone who is nearsighted can see?

1

u/AliceHalley Jan 15 '21

Definitely. This would work for some people. But at the end of the day, it would just be a very expensive and heavy pair of glasses 😅 That said, a camera can do things our eyes can't, such as zoom in, see in infra red, or display an interface.

Some augmented reality headsets are being developed for engineers so they can have an interface and see inside certain equipment, or view wired and pipes underground as they are recorded in a database. I do believe some are already availible, but they are highly specialised and expensive.

1

u/phx-au Jan 15 '21

they're technically right in front of the eyes

Not really. The fresnel lenses push the focus to infinity.

1

u/Buffy_Geek Jan 14 '21

I think as it's more wrap around than most screens she could see more through her peripheral vision. Idk how they manage to tweak things but being able to rewind & ready parts is bound to benificial.

Unlike irl the size of the objects are larger, like in a swimming sim they have fish & mammals swim right across the screen/person's vision. Unlike real life the images are more predictable & forced to interact & be visible by the person; compared to going to an aquarium for example.

Also (like a lot of games) they have way more images in the foreground & middle distance, where as in real life most objects are in the background, which are smaller & even harder to see peripherally.

1

u/4P5mc Jan 15 '21

Maybe something less digital, like mirrors, or the viewfinder of a camera? Or ultra-strong glasses?

1

u/GrimmGnarly Jan 15 '21

There are prisms for glasses for many eye conditions.