Virtual reality shows promise for diagnosing learning disabilities

LAS VEGAS — Virtual reality technology may offer promising new opportunities in diagnosing vision problems and learning disabilities such as dyslexia in children, according to a presentation at Vision Expo West.

Jeffrey Williamson, BS, MS, MBA, CEO of Engineerus and one of the creators of the VisionWearX multi-sensory screening and diagnostic tool, and Zeshan Khan, BS, MS, founder and CEO of Xenon-VR, said virtual reality can simulate a dyslexic lens in a virtual test environment by stimulating the brain in the same way commercially available tinted lenses do in dyslexic patients.

“The problem with the current paradigm, and why only 2% to 3% of [eye care providers] to make any type of learning disability diagnosis is that it takes time,” Williamson said. “You can spend, on average, between six and eight one-hour sessions for an 8-year-old child to be correctly diagnosed. It is extremely expensive, and 90% of insurers do not reimburse. What 8-year-old child wants We have found the solution.

The technician can control the virtual environment to make the testing process more enjoyable for the patient while the doctor analyzes the patient’s eye behavior with a range of built-in modules.

“Should I send them into space? Should I put them in the woods or at the beach? Simple. We control that,” Williamson said. “It is recorded that 80% of learning occurs through the visual pathway. Dyslexia is not a visual problem per se, but it does have a visual component, most often not, and you, as an ECP, are an excellent first line of defense.

Virtual reality headsets like the VisionWearX are also capable of integrating bioinformatics feedback such as heart and respiratory rate monitoring and EEG wavelengths, which can further increase the return on investment for physicians integrating the virtual reality in their practices, according to the presenters.

“The question is not ‘Why not use AR [augmented reality], VR and mixed reality? It’s ‘Why don’t you do it now?’ Williamson concluded. “Now you see why I get up every morning doing what I do. It changes life. You have the ability to make an impact.

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Vision Expo West