How are visual acuity and daily activities affected by visual impairment?

Previous studies with people who have retinal degeneration have shown that vision is altered and impaired in the presence of a scotoma. This is also the case when a sighted person is tested under simulated low vision (SLV) conditions. However, the extent to which patient-specific factors affect vision and quality of life is not well understood.

Testing sighted participants with SLV allows us to compare performance to real patients, design simulations to be as naturalistic as possible, and assess changes in vision for real life tasks instead of relying on acuity alone.