continued from Part 1
To choose any low vision aid, you should have a list of what you want the device to help you with. Not everyone can use the devices that use magnification, it depends on a your visual acuity and how much you use your peripheral vision. If you’ve checked the YouTube reviews in Part 1, you know that Sam’s vision is such that there are only a few of the devices that use magnification that help him. It is partially dependent on the size of the screen and how much the device blocks one’s peripheral vision.
Reading text
| distance from you/ Types of text | Helps you read using magnification | Reads text to you called text-to-speech or OCT |
|---|---|---|
| text is near to you/ books, newspapers, phones, bills, medicine bottles, menus | NuEyes SeeBOOST IrisVision SightPlus Jordy CyberEyez NuEyes Pro-you can also read books, emails, social media posts on the glasses * | OrCam NuEyes Pro CyberEyez |
| text is at an intermediate distance/ computer, labels on shelves at home or in stores | NuEyes SeeBOOST IrisVision SightPlus Jordy CyberEyez | OrCam-has an object recognition feature for store products & a money recognition feature NuEyes Pro CyberEyez-object identification |
| text is at a distance/ street signs, aisle signs in stores | NuEyes IrisVision SightPlus Jordy CyberEyez | OrCam NuEyes Pro CyberEyez |
| * NuEyes Pro has full computer capabilities | ||
| I have not included OxSight it isn't yet available to the public |
Seeing the World Around You
| Task | Device - not all devices work for all people; lots of variables like extent of vision loss & specifics of device |
|---|---|
| reading & hearing text | see table above |
| driving | none, not safe and not legal |
| seeing faces, recognizing faces | All of them COULD help with this: Jordy NuEyes CyberEyez eSight IrisVision SeeBOOST SightPlus OrCam-'learns' faces, speaks name Cyber Eyez-has an 'emotion' recognition feature |
| walking quickly, running, jogging, biking | SeeBOOST does not cause 'motion sickness' but not sure how they'd do with these activities Only devices that do NOT have magnification which is OrCam |
| write | Jordy NuEyes CyberEyez eSight IrisVision SightPlus |
| recognizing products in the store or in your pantry by bar code | magnifies labels: Jordy, NuEyes, SeeBOOST, IrisVision, SightPlus OrCam-you 'teach' it a product, recognizes & speaks name CyberEyez-recognizes objects using Google image search NuEyes Pro: Barcode and QR Scanner |
| color recognition | OrCam & CyberEyez both speak color |
| money recognition | Cyber Eyez & OrCam both speak answer |
| watching TV going to a play, the movies, a concert watching sports sightseeing | Jordy SeeBOOST NuEyes CyberEyez eSight IrisVision SightPlus |
| working on hobbies like sewing, knitting, woodworking, painting, drawing, reading & playing music, playing cards and other games | Jordy SeeBOOST NuEyes CyberEyez eSight IrisVision SightPlus |
| personal care looking at photographs cooking and household tasks personal care | Jordy SeeBOOST NuEyes eSight CyberEyez IrisVision SightPlus |
| work, school activities and home activities involving 'paperwork' | Jordy SeeBOOST NuEyes CyberEyez IrisVision eSight SightPlus |
| watching TV/movies on the glasses | Jordy-has HDMI to hook to TV NuEyes Pro-streams TV/movies |
| computer capabilities like email, browsing, social media on glasses | NuEyes Pro-full Android computer eSight-plug into computer via HDMI & see screen in glasses |
| use headset on docking stand & w monitor as CCTV | Jordy |
| fully-funded assistive device by US Veteran's Administration | OrCam |
| traveling | Jordy SeeBOOST NuEyes CyberEyez eSight IrisVision SightPlus OrCam |
Next: What do they look like, how do you control them