FORD has teamed up with Cambridge University to study visual impairment issues that come with an ageing society and to use digital tools to better design vehicles for those with vision problems.
The university's engineering design centre has developed a Vision Impairment Simulator to enable designers and engineers to gain a better understanding of the effects of a wide variety of visual impairments.
"It allows you to simulate visual impairments on any image. You load in an image, select a visual impairment and it lets you see the image as someone with that impairment would see it," said Sam Waller, an inclusive design research associate at Cambridge, who developed the software.
"You can then load in other designs and instantly compare the effects, or you can change the impairment and see how the design stands up to different problems."
"Even in the case of age-related macular degeneration, where the loss of central vision moves around with the eye, the software simulates this effect by allowing the user to move the blind-spot around to see its effect on different parts of the image," Waller said.
Ford is using the software to study and optimise the design of its instrument displays, to ensure they can be safely and comfortably read by as many drivers as possible. The software also has been used to improve the design of mobile phones and for teaching inclusive design at several universities.
The World Health Organisation reports that 285 million people worldwide suffer from some form of visual impairment.
The Star/ANN
Sunday, December 25, 2011
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