New NIH grant funds research on technology for low vision

Saturday, September 5, 2020

We received a new R01 award from the National Institutes of Health for the project "Gaze-contingent computer screen magnification control" (PI: R. Manduchi, UCSC; Co-Is: S. Chung, Berkeley, and R. Prado, UCSC.) This project addresses the needs of people with low vision who use screen magnification software to read on a computer screen. Since a magnifier expands the screen content beyond the physical size of the screen (the "viewport"), it is necessary to move the content so that the portion of interest falls within the viewport. This typically requires continuous horizontal or vertical scrolling using the mouse or the trackpad, a tedious operation that can be challenging for those with poor manual dexterity. This project will develop a new software system that relies on the user’s own gaze to control scrolling when reading with magnification. This will greatly facilitate use of a screen magnifier, and thus enable better access to onscreen information for people with low vision.