Modest visual impairments and headlamp glare reduce pedestrian visability at night

Background: This study investigated the effects of experimentally induced visual impairment, headlamp glare and clothing on pedestrian visibility. Methods: 28 young adults (M=27.6±4.7 yrs) drove around a closed road circuit at night while pedestrians walked in place at the roadside. Pedestrians wore either black clothing, black clothing with a rectangular vest consisting of 1325 cm2 of retroreflective tape, or the same amount of tape positioned on the extremities in a configuration that conveyed biological motion (“biomotion”). Visual impairment was induced by goggles containing either blurring lenses, simulated cataracts, or clear lenses; visual acuity for the cataract and blurred lens conditions was matched. Drivers pressed a response pad when they first recognized that a pedestrian was present. Sixteen participants drove around the circuit in the presence of headlamp glare while twelve drove without glare. Results: Visual impairment, headlamp glare and pedestrian clothing all significantly affected drivers’ ability to recognize pedestrians (p<0.05). The simulated cataracts were more disruptive than blur, even though acuity was matched across the two manipulations. Pedestrians were recognized more often and at longer distances when they wore “biomotion” clothing than either the vest or black clothing, even in the presence of visual impairment and glare. Conclusions: Drivers’ ability to see and respond to pedestrians at night is degraded by modest visual impairments even when vision meets driver licensing requirements; glare further exacerbates these effects. Clothing that includes retroreflective tape in a biological motion configuration is relatively robust to visual impairment and glare.

Simulated visual impairment leads to cognitive slowing in older adults

PURPOSE: To investigate the impact of different levels of simulated visual impairment on the cognitive test performance of older adults and to compare this with previous findings in younger adults. METHODS.: Cognitive performance was assessed in 30 visually normal, community-dwelling older adults (mean = 70.2 ± 3.9 years). Four standard cognitive tests were used including the Digit Symbol Substitution Test, Trail Making Tests A and B, and the Stroop Color Word Test under three visual conditions: normal baseline vision and two levels of cataract simulating filters (Vistech), which were administered in a random order. Distance high-contrast visual acuity and Pelli-Robson letter contrast sensitivity were also assessed for all three visual conditions. RESULTS.: Simulated cataract significantly impaired performance across all cognitive test performance measures. In addition, the impact of simulated cataract was significantly greater in this older cohort than in a younger cohort previously investigated. Individual differences in contrast sensitivity better predicted cognitive test performance than did visual acuity. CONCLUSIONS.: Visual impairment can lead to slowing of cognitive performance in older adults; these effects are greater than those observed in younger participants. This has important implications for neuropsychological testing of older populations who have a high prevalence of cataract.

Recognising audio-visual speech in vehicles using the AVICAR database

Interacting with technology within a vehicle environment using a voice interface can greatly reduce the effects of driver distraction. Most current approaches to this problem only utilise the audio signal, making them susceptible to acoustic noise. An obvious approach to circumvent this is to use the visual modality in addition. However, capturing, storing and distributing audio-visual data in a vehicle environment is very costly and difficult. One current dataset available for such research is the AVICAR [1] database. Unfortunately this database is largely unusable due to timing mismatch between the two streams and in addition, no protocol is available. We have overcome this problem by re-synchronising the streams on the phone-number portion of the dataset and established a protocol for further research. This paper presents the first audio-visual results on this dataset for speaker-independent speech recognition. We hope this will serve as a catalyst for future research in this area.

Eigengaze : covert behavioral biometric exploiting visual attention characteristics

It is possible for the visual attention characteristics of a person to be exploited as a biometric for authentication or identification of individual viewers. The visual attention characteristics of a person can be easily monitored by tracking the gaze of a viewer during the presentation of a known or unknown visual scene. The positions and sequences of gaze locations during viewing may be determined by overt (conscious) or covert (sub-conscious) viewing behaviour. This paper presents a method to authenticate individuals using their covert viewing behaviour, thus yielding a unique behavioural biometric. A method to quantify the spatial and temporal patterns established by the viewer for their covert behaviour is proposed utilsing a principal component analysis technique called `eigenGaze'. Experimental results suggest that it is possible to capture the unique visual attention characteristics of a person to provide a simple behavioural biometric.

Individual differences in the visual control of intercepting a penalty kick in association football

Recent perceptual-motor studies have revealed variations in learning trajectories of novices. Despite such observation, relatively little attention has been paid to studying individual differences in experienced performers’ perceptual-motor behaviors. The present study examined individual differences for a visual anticipation task. Experienced association football goalkeepers attempted to intercept penalty kicks taken with deceptive and non-deceptive kicking actions. Data revealed that differences in the action capabilities of goalkeepers affected the timing and accuracy of movement response behaviors. Faster goalkeepers tended to wait until later before initiating movement in comparison with slower goalkeepers. The study of affordances in sport environments offers a theoretical framework with which to overcome some of the reported methodological limitations in the visual anticipation literature.

Inferior visual field reductions are associated with poorer functional status among older adults with glaucoma

Purpose: To examine the relationship between visual impairment and functional status in a community-dwelling sample of older adults with glaucoma. Methods: This study included 74 community-dwelling older adults with open-angle glaucoma (aged 74 ± 6 years). Assessment of central vision included high-contrast visual acuity and Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity. Binocular integrated visual fields were derived from merged monocular Humphrey Field Analyser visual field plots. Functional status outcome measures included physical performance tests (6-min walk test, timed up and go test and lower limb strength), a physical activity questionnaire (Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly) and an overall functional status score. Correlation and linear regression analyses, adjusting for age and gender, examined the association between visual impairment and functional status outcomes. Results: Greater levels of visual impairment were significantly associated with lower levels of functional status among community-dwelling older adults with glaucoma, independent of age and gender. Specifically, lower levels of visual function were associated with slower timed up and go performance, weaker lower limb strength, lower self-reported physical activity, and lower overall functional status scores. Of the components of vision examined, the inferior visual field and contrast factors were the strongest predictors of these functional outcomes, whereas the superior visual field factor was not related to functional status. Conclusions: Greater visual impairment, particularly in the inferior visual field and loss of contrast sensitivity, was associated with poorer functional status among older adults with glaucoma. The findings of this study highlight the potential links between visual impairment and the onset of functional decline. Interventions which promote physical activity among older adults with glaucoma may assist in preventing functional decline, frailty and falls, and improve overall health and well-being.

The ecological approach to visual perception and the actor performance captured in the gaming landscape

The use of Performance Capture techniques in the creation of games that involve Motion Capture is a relatively new phenomenon. To date there is no prescribed methodology that prepares actors for the rigors of this new industry and as such there are many questions to be answered around how actors navigate these environments successfully when all available training and theoretical material is focused on performance for theatre and film. This article proposes that through a deployment of an Ecological Approach to Visual Perception we may begin to chart this territory for actors and begin to contend with the demands of performing for the motion captured gaming scenario.

HIFiRE re-entry observation using an image-based visual servoing system

This paper presents an image based visual servoing system that is intended to be used for tracking and obtaining scientific observations of the HIFiRE vehicles. The primary aim of this tracking platform is to acquire and track the thermal signature emitted from the surface of the vehicle during the re-entry phase of the mission using an infra-red camera. The implemented visual servoing scheme uses a classical image based approach to identify and track the target using visual kinematic control. The paper utilizes simulation and experimental results to show the tracking performance of the system using visual feedback. Discussions on current implementation and control techniques to further improve the performance of the system are also explored.

Depth of focus and visual acuity with primary and secondary spherical aberration

It is known that the depth of focus (DOF) of the human eye can be affected by the higher order aberrations. We estimated the optimal combinations of primary and secondary Zernike spherical aberration to expand the DOF and evaluated their efficiency in real eyes using an adaptive optics system. The ratio between increased DOF and loss of visual acuity was used as the performance indicator. The results indicate that primary or secondary spherical aberration alone shows similar effectiveness in extending the DOF. However, combinations of primary and secondary spherical aberration with different signs provide better efficiency for expanding the DOF. This finding suggests that the optimal combinations of primary and secondary spherical aberration may be useful in the design of optical presbyopic corrections. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The bondage of an imposed visual discourse : understanding the built environment's influence on the 'oldest-old' aged care residents' sense of peace

This study investigates the influence of the built environment upon residents' sense of familiarity, concept of self and thus, their facilitation of place through the theory of "The Bondage of Imposed Visual Discourse". Simone de Beauvoir's theory "The Bondage of Feminine Elegance" provides the conceptual understanding of the visual discourse between the physicality of clothing and the wearer's personal identity. This fashion theory is transposed to explore the influence of the built environment's physicality upon aged care residents' personal identity. This paper presents findings from a study of professionals' opinions in reference to the built environment of permanent residential aged care for the 'oldest-old' of Australia. The researcher conducted qualitative interviews with four participants: an architect, occupational therapist, nursing home facility manager and an aged care lobbyist in the South-East Queensland. This study is structured towards proposing "place-focused" qualitative design principles to encourage residents' sense of place through the built environment. These proposed principles are addressed with reference to existing Standards and Principles outlined by the Australian Government.

Design and development of automatic visual inspection system for PCB manufacturing

Inspection of solder joints has been a critical process in the electronic manufacturing industry to reduce manufacturing cost, improve yield, and ensure product quality and reliability. This paper proposes two inspection modules for an automatic solder joint classification system. The “front-end” inspection system includes illumination normalisation, localisation and segmentation. The “back-end” inspection involves the classification of solder joints using the Log Gabor filter and classifier fusion. Five different levels of solder quality with respect to the amount of solder paste have been defined. The Log Gabor filter has been demonstrated to achieve high recognition rates and is resistant to misalignment. This proposed system does not need any special illumination system, and the images are acquired by an ordinary digital camera. This system could contribute to the development of automated non-contact, non-destructive and low cost solder joint quality inspection systems.

Risk of falls, injurious falls, and other injuries resulting from visual impairment among older adults with age-related macular degeneration

Purpose: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment among older adults. This study explored the relationship between AMD, falls risk and other injuries and identified visual risk factors for these adverse events. Methods: Participants included 76 community-dwelling individuals with a range of severity of AMD (mean age, 77.0±6.9 years). Baseline assessment included binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and merged visual fields. Participants completed monthly falls and injury diaries for one year following the baseline assessment. Results: Overall, 74% of participants reported having either a fall, injurious fall or other injury. Fifty-four percent of participants reported a fall and 30% reported more than one fall; of the 102 falls reported, 63% resulted in an injury. Most occurred outdoors (52%), between late morning and late afternoon (61%) and when navigating on level ground (62%). The most common non-fall injuries were lacerations (36%) and collisions with an object (35%). Reduced contrast sensitivity and visual acuity were associated with increased fall rate, after controlling for age, gender, cognitive function, cataract severity and self-reported physical function. Reduced contrast sensitivity was the only significant predictor of falls and other injuries. Conclusion: Among older adults with AMD, increased visual impairment was significantly associated with an increased incidence of falls and other injuries. Reduced contrast sensitivity was significantly associated with increased rates of falls, injurious falls and injuries, while reduced visual acuity was only associated with increased falls risk. These findings have important implications for the assessment of visually impaired older adults.