Using video games to measure the eye-brain-body connection

Key Takeaways

• Researchers employed video games to evaluate participants’ field of vision and visual stamina, their ability to distinguish contrast, and other factors that can indicate common eye diseases. 
• The games could be useful as a screening tool to alert doctors to concerning vision developments.

The visual acuity test that we’ve all done—covering one eye and reading letters and numbers varying in size—dates back to 1862 and is still the most widely used method to test vision. But its assessment of vision is incomplete. For example, the test can’t determine a patient’s ability to process contrast—such as distinguishing objects in the dark or in the fog—which can be a sign of cataracts.

Khizer Khaderi, MD, of Stanford Medicine, and his colleagues wanted to find a more holistic measurement of visual, cognitive and physical function. So Khaderi and his team developed a different approach to assessing vision health, which they called the vision performance index (VPI). The index is a number based on five domains of vision, such as the ability to sustain visual attention and a person’s field of view. The team created the VPI eight years ago in response to the drawbacks of standard vision tests. 

In the current study, which is the first to apply the VPI, scientists programmed the VPI into games that would measure several aspects of vision. Through each game, the scientists measured five domains of vision, each with subcomponents: Field of view measures central versus peripheral vision; accuracy measures response time and accurate choices; multi-tracking measures the ability to choose correct responses with multiple stimuli; endurance shows whether a player can maintain accuracy and  detection indicates the player’s ability to discriminate choices based on color, contrast or size. To ensure consistent scores, the researchers required participants to play two or three times. 

Enrolled in the study were 66 patients with dry eye disease, glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, or age-related macular degeneration. The scientists compared the performance of this group with 27 participants with healthy vision and found specific deficits associated with the different eye diseases. The results were published in Ophthalmology Science. 

“In the future, dips in the components of the VPI score could be used by doctors as a screening tool, alerting them to concerning vision developments as well as helping them develop personalized therapies to optimize vision performance,” Khaderi said.

The visual acuity test that we’ve all done—covering one eye and reading letters and numbers varying in size—dates back to 1862 and is still the most widely used method to test vision. But its assessment of vision is incomplete. For example, the test can’t determine a patient’s ability to process contrast—such as distinguishing objects in the dark or in the fog—which can be a sign of cataracts.

Khizer Khaderi, MD, of Stanford Medicine, and his colleagues wanted to find a more holistic measurement of visual, cognitive and physical function. So Khaderi and his team developed a different approach to assessing vision health, which they called the vision performance index (VPI). The index is a number based on five domains of vision, such as the ability to sustain visual attention and a person’s field of view. The team created the VPI eight years ago in response to the drawbacks of standard vision tests. 

In the current study, which is the first to apply the VPI, scientists programmed the VPI into games that would measure several aspects of vision. Through each game, the scientists measured five domains of vision, each with subcomponents: Field of view measures central versus peripheral vision; accuracy measures response time and accurate choices; multi-tracking measures the ability to choose correct responses with multiple stimuli; endurance shows whether a player can maintain accuracy and  detection indicates the player’s ability to discriminate choices based on color, contrast or size. To ensure consistent scores, the researchers required participants to play two or three times. 

Enrolled in the study were 66 patients with dry eye disease, glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, or age-related macular degeneration. The scientists compared the performance of this group with 27 participants with healthy vision and found specific deficits associated with the different eye diseases. The results were published in Ophthalmology Science. 

“In the future, dips in the components of the VPI score could be used by doctors as a screening tool, alerting them to concerning vision developments as well as helping them develop personalized therapies to optimize vision performance,” Khaderi said.

Edited by Miriam Kaplan, PhD

Source: Emily Moskal, Medical Xpress, September 6, 2023; see source article