Lei Liu, Ph.D., School of OptometryLei Liu, Ph.D., associate professor in the School of Optometry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, has received a four-year, $2.5 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the use of virtual reality and intelligent tutoring in an effort to make low vision rehabilitation more accessible and affordable for at-risk populations.
The long-term objective of Liu’s research is to integrate Virtual Reality-based Intelligent Orientation and Mobility Specialists into orientation and mobility rehabilitation practice so that this valuable service becomes accessible and affordable to all who may benefit from it.
Currently, O&M rehabilitation is the primary method to restore independent travel to those with low vision and improve their quality of life. However, factors like a shortage of O&M specialists and socioeconomic constraints make access to O&M rehabilitation tough.
A VR-IOMS is a computer program that mimics human O&M specialists’ teaching strategies and tactics to conduct automated and individualized O&M skill training to individuals with low vision in safe virtual environments. When VR-IOMS courses are delivered through the internet, low vision travelers can receive quality O&M training at their convenient location and time with little cost.
“We believe that if low vision travelers can learn O&M skills in a safe environment in their convenient location and time, and if such learning is self-regulated, with minimal intervention from an O&M specialist, we can overcome the accessibility and affordability barriers to O&M rehabilitation. This led to the idea of Virtual Reality-based Intelligent Orientation and Mobility Specialists (VR-IOMSs),” Liu said.
This research is built on Liu’s previous study of teaching O&M skills in virtual streets. It includes the technical development of VR-IOMSs, in collaboration with the University of Alabama, and a clinical trial to compare the training effectiveness of the VR-IOMS and human O&M specialists, in collaboration with Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind.