TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychophysics of reading. III. A fiberscope low-vision reading aid
AU - Pelli, D. G.
AU - Legge, G. E.
AU - Schleske, M. M.
PY - 1985
Y1 - 1985
N2 - Existing reading aids providing magnification in excess of 6x (24 diopters) are awkward to use, expensive, or not portable. The authors have developed a new type of reading aid, a low-resolution fiberscope, that provides magnification up to 40x (160 diopters), and is easy to use, inexpensive, and portable. The fiberscope consists of an objective-lens assembly, a flexible bundle of optical fibers, and an eyepiece that together transmit an image from the page to the reader's eye. Complete construction details are included. The design is based on the authors' previous findings that reading requires a field of only four characters and a resolution of only 2 cycles/character. After only half an hour of training, a diverse group of low-vision readers read with the fiberscope at rates between 12 and 95 words/minute. Low-vision readers with central field loss had a median reading rate of only 18 words/min, whereas those with intact central fields had a median reading rate of 67 words/min, not far short of the median rate of 73 words/min for normal readers using the fiberscope. This is consistent with the authors' previous findings that low-vision readers with central field loss read much more slowly than those with intact central fields, even when optimal magnification is provided. The authors conclude that the fiberscope may be very useful as an inexpensive portable reading aid for people requiring high magnification.
AB - Existing reading aids providing magnification in excess of 6x (24 diopters) are awkward to use, expensive, or not portable. The authors have developed a new type of reading aid, a low-resolution fiberscope, that provides magnification up to 40x (160 diopters), and is easy to use, inexpensive, and portable. The fiberscope consists of an objective-lens assembly, a flexible bundle of optical fibers, and an eyepiece that together transmit an image from the page to the reader's eye. Complete construction details are included. The design is based on the authors' previous findings that reading requires a field of only four characters and a resolution of only 2 cycles/character. After only half an hour of training, a diverse group of low-vision readers read with the fiberscope at rates between 12 and 95 words/minute. Low-vision readers with central field loss had a median reading rate of only 18 words/min, whereas those with intact central fields had a median reading rate of 67 words/min, not far short of the median rate of 73 words/min for normal readers using the fiberscope. This is consistent with the authors' previous findings that low-vision readers with central field loss read much more slowly than those with intact central fields, even when optimal magnification is provided. The authors conclude that the fiberscope may be very useful as an inexpensive portable reading aid for people requiring high magnification.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 2581916
AN - SCOPUS:0021807818
VL - 26
SP - 751
EP - 763
JO - Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science
JF - Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science
SN - 0146-0404
IS - 5
ER -