Evaluation of Visual Acuity Measurement Based on the Mobile Virtual Reality Device

Job-related vision standards have become an increasing concern in recent years. Mobile visual acuity measurements enable early detection and diagnosis of visual impairments and are being used around the world. However, the reliability of mobile visual acuity testing has not yet been fully demonstrated. A simple virtual reality (VR) system combining a mobile phone and a VR cardboard device has the potential as a reliable visual acuity evaluation system due to its fully controlled environment. Visual acuity measurements taken via this type of VR system were evaluated by comparing them with those obtained using the traditional Snellen chart. This study gathered data according to different parameters, including right or left eye, with or without corrective vision devices, and the learning effects of the system. The results showed that the VR system had an accuracy of up to 96.43% and 92.86% for the left and right eyes, respectively, for participants not using corrective devices. In the same group, the proposed system provided significant correlation results for Spearman’s r parameters for the left and right eyes (0.7342 and 0.8188, respectively), as compared to those obtained using a traditional approach. Therefore, despite some limitations, a mobile VR system has potential as a self-diagnostic tool for rapid, low-cost visual acuity measurements in a fully controlled environment as well as for providing historical vision data and tracing for the early detection of visual impairments or conditions.