Large-scale assessment of needs in low vision individuals using the Aira assistive technology

Abstract

Purpose

To systematically evaluate the needs of low vision individuals through call data obtained through the Aira assistive technology system.

Patients and methods

Aira (Aira Tech Corporation, La Jolla, CA, USA) is an on-demand assistive wearable technology designed for individuals with low vision. The user wears glasses with an integrated front-facing video camera that connects with a remote human agent who assists the user with the specified task. Call types, temporal characteristics, and duration of call were compared by gender and vision status (low vision, light perception, and blind). Chi-square tests, t-tests, ANOVA, linear regression and Poisson regression analyses were performed.

Results

878 subscribers placed 10,022 total calls (4759 female, 5263 male) over 3 months. The most common categories were reading (35%), navigation (33%), and home management (16%). The distribution of categories (χ2=49.3, p<0.001), duration (t=−7.59, p<0.0001) and time of call (χ2=37.4, p<0.001) differed by gender. The distribution of categories (χ2=61, p<0.001), duration (F=13.7, p<0.0001), and time of call (χ2=36.9, p<0.001) differed by vision status. Blind [adjusted IRR=1.68 (95% CI: 1.56–1.79)] and light perception users [adjusted IRR=1.43 (95% CI: 1.32–1.53)] had increased usage compared to low vision users. Women had higher usage than men [adjusted IRR=1.09 (95% CI: 1.04–1.13)].

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the first large-scale needs assessment of 878 low vision individuals over 10,022 calls. The most common categories were reading, navigation, and home management. Distribution of call types, duration, and time of call differed significantly by gender and vision status. Blind and light perception users had higher usage rates than those with low vision. Women had higher usage rates than men. This large-scale needs analysis of low vision individuals provides insight into utilization patterns across varying levels of vision loss and gender, which will guide future evolutions of assistive technology by tailoring future hardware and software upgrades.

Keywords:

• wearable technology
• low vision
• assistive technology
• device design

Acknowledgments

Financial support: Daniel Chao is supported as a scholar on a K12 grant from the NEI 1K12EY024225-01A1 (Bethesda, MD). The funding organization had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

Disclosure

Andrew Utt and Emily Hill are employees at Aira; none of the other authors have a financial interest in Aira; Aira did not provide any funding for the project and did not have input in the analysis and writing of the manuscript. Dr Brian Jonathan Nguyen has nothing to disclose. Mr William Chen has nothing to disclose. Dr Allison J Chen has nothing to disclose. Mr Andrew Utt reports salary from Aira, outside the submitted work. Ms Emily Hill reports salary from Aira, during the conduct of the study. Mr Ryan Apgar has nothing to disclose. Dr Daniel Chao reports personal fees from Recens Medical, personal fees from DTx Pharma, personal fees from Zilia Health, personal fees from Visgenx, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.