ViaOpta is a suite of apps created to help visually impaired people better navigate their daily life. As part of this set of tools, Flipside designed and developed the ViaOpta Simulator (Sim), an app that uses augmented reality to emulate the effects of different types of visual impairments on a patient’s vision via a user’s smartphone screen. The app can be used by healthcare professionals to help patients and their carers understand what living with the condition is like, by bringing it to life first-hand. Live video from the device’s camera is overlaid with a simulation of the condition across the visual field, which can be adjusted in terms of severity or type of condition.
The Flipside team also designed ViaOpta Nav (Google Maps for people with visual impairment, using voice and haptic feedback to guide them) and ViaOpta Daily (object recognition tool to help people with visual impairment). All apps were designed and developed in collaboration with visually impaired users.