Mexico City.– The Applied Research + Development team at architecture firm Foster + Partners has been working closely with City, the University of London, and the PEARL laboratory to develop VARID (Virtual and Augmented Reality for Inclusive Design).
It is a set of design tools that uses virtual and augmented reality technologies to help architects, researchers and designers improve their understanding of how visually impaired users experience the world around them.
Visual impairments, such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, affect millions of people around the world, with cases expected to double over the next 30 years.
VARID uses dynamic, real-time image processing techniques to mimic a variety of symptoms, such as blurred, distorted or peripheral vision loss. Developed as a game engine plugin, it is compatible with a variety of virtual and augmented reality headsets, which are commercially available.
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