Definition of visual impairment and blindness under German law
A person is visually impaired if, with the better-seeing eye and even with glasses or contact lenses, they see no more than 30 % of what a person with "normal" visual acuity perceives (visual acuity ≤ 30 %). A person is severely visually impaired with no more than 5 % (visual acuity ≤ 5 %). A person is blind with no more than 2 % (visual acuity ≤ 2 %).
Visual acuity of 5 % can mean that a person only recognises an object at 5 m that a normally-sighted person sees at 100 m. It can equally mean that a person sees only 5 % of the normal visual field, as if through a tunnel.
Source and further information: https://www.dbsv.org/zahlen-fakten.html
The starting point
For many people who have had little contact with vision impairment, there are "normally sighted" and "blind" people. But there are many shades in between. Causes, conditions and symptoms are very varied — symptoms often combine. The challenges for those whose perception sits between the two poles are largely unknown, irrelevant, or underestimated. Such people are often described as "visually impaired".
For us, the inventors and developers of the VIP Simulator, they are exactly that: VIPs — Visually Impaired Persons. Michel is affected by progressive retinal degeneration (Retinopathia Pigmentosa). After eye operations that didn't go as hoped, he was looking for an answer to the question: "How do you actually see?". VIPs are often asked this — the answer isn't easy to give.
The approach of the Visually Impaired Person Simulator
Tolerance, empathy and understanding for another person's challenges and needs cannot simply be demanded or assumed. Only experiences and encounters lead to reflection and, ultimately, behavioural change. We've seen this repeatedly in professional and personal contexts.
VR applications offer an excellent way to deliver striking experiences. Across multiple environments (apartment, work, leisure), the VIP Simulator lets people "try out" different vision impairments at varying severities — including combined symptoms. Assistive tools like magnifier, white cane, smartphone and monocular enable a realistic everyday simulation. Among other things, it shows that disability need not be coupled with helplessness or limitation. Rather, assistive tools combined with an inclusive environment let VIPs participate in cultural, professional and social life — which matters most for real encounters.
The project enables two things: taking a VIP's perspective, and offering a new perspective for those in contact with VIPs.