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I have nystagmus and using the Vision Pro was a challenge. What was your experience?

I have a relatively rare (0.1% of the population) eye disorder called nystagmus. For me, this manifests as a subtle but constant eye sway from side to side. While I don't perceive this eye motion, others do. After recently visiting an Apple Store for a live demo of Apple Vision Pro, I can report that the eye tracking is mostly incompatible with my condition. I had about a 50% success rate "clicking" what I thought I was looking at. The biggest challenge was selecting the tiny "X" to close windows. In a way, the eye tracking is excellent. For example, when in the Apple TV app, I could see the selection box jumping back and forth between two movie posters, clearly tracking the precise movement of my eyes. The problem, of course, is that I'm not intentionally moving my eyes in this manner. Almost every interaction required a second (or third) attempt. Visual fidelity was not a problem. The displays were unbelievably sharp.


That being said...


Using the Apple Vision Pro was the first time I have felt that my disorder was a disability. I'm such a huge Apple fan and have been waiting with bated breath to see if this was a technology I would be able to use. I completely appreciate that others have far more severe vision disabilities. I merely wanted to share my experience. Have others with nystagmus had a similar experiences testing the Vision Pro? Do we think Apple could develop a technological solution? Or, will nystagmus sufferers simply never be able to navigate VisionOS with their eyes?


I know we're a small segment of the population, but I hope Apple is investigating solutions.


PS...

Shout out to the Apple specialist at the Downtown Brooklyn store. Things were clearly not going well in my demo, but she trudged along with me.

Posted on Feb 7, 2024 6:04 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 8, 2024 12:06 PM

Hello,


Sorry for the poor writing and any spelling errors. I am typing this on my phone.


i also have nystagmus and just tried the Vision Pro demo today. It did not go well. I struggled to get through the initial I setup. I tried four times and it kept failing. Then they brought someone else in and told me about some of the accessibility features. Unfortunately, not all of them can be used on the demo unit, but I was able to try and use some of them. I enabled the Vision Pro to only focus on my left eye (which is my stronger eye) and I think it also had a setting that is supposed to help with random eye movements. Turning this on did help. It took two more tries but I was finally able to get through the initial set up. Unfortunately I still had a ton of difficulty. The Apple employee told me to open the photos app but I accidentally opened the meditation app and got stuck. It was impossible for me to press the tiny x button to go back. My eyes also got extremely watery while using it, it might be because I was trying to focus so hard and text was extremely difficult to read.


so I never got to actually experience the Vision Pro and see how it could potentially help me. It was a pretty big disappointment. I am legally blind so I had big hopes in this helping me to see things better but the controls were just impossible for me to use. They did mention that there is an accessibility feature to use your wrist, hand, or head as a pointer instead of using your eyes which sounds much easier, but I don’t get the chance to use it since they didn’t have it on the demo version. im not sure why, but I hope they enable all the accessibility features in the demo version. I just want to be able to point and tap on where I want to go.


I understand how you feel. Apple products have been extremely helpful in enabling me to navigate life. This product as huge potential to help the blind community and I am hopeful for what the next versions will be like, but for now it still needs significant work.


The Apple employees were extremely patient with me and try to do their best to accommodate me with what they had and I am extremely grateful for that. Hopefully future versions will be better for people like us.


here is a link to the manual that discusses some of the accessibility features.


Get started with accessibility features on Apple Vision Pro - Apple Support


2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 8, 2024 12:06 PM in response to eml

Hello,


Sorry for the poor writing and any spelling errors. I am typing this on my phone.


i also have nystagmus and just tried the Vision Pro demo today. It did not go well. I struggled to get through the initial I setup. I tried four times and it kept failing. Then they brought someone else in and told me about some of the accessibility features. Unfortunately, not all of them can be used on the demo unit, but I was able to try and use some of them. I enabled the Vision Pro to only focus on my left eye (which is my stronger eye) and I think it also had a setting that is supposed to help with random eye movements. Turning this on did help. It took two more tries but I was finally able to get through the initial set up. Unfortunately I still had a ton of difficulty. The Apple employee told me to open the photos app but I accidentally opened the meditation app and got stuck. It was impossible for me to press the tiny x button to go back. My eyes also got extremely watery while using it, it might be because I was trying to focus so hard and text was extremely difficult to read.


so I never got to actually experience the Vision Pro and see how it could potentially help me. It was a pretty big disappointment. I am legally blind so I had big hopes in this helping me to see things better but the controls were just impossible for me to use. They did mention that there is an accessibility feature to use your wrist, hand, or head as a pointer instead of using your eyes which sounds much easier, but I don’t get the chance to use it since they didn’t have it on the demo version. im not sure why, but I hope they enable all the accessibility features in the demo version. I just want to be able to point and tap on where I want to go.


I understand how you feel. Apple products have been extremely helpful in enabling me to navigate life. This product as huge potential to help the blind community and I am hopeful for what the next versions will be like, but for now it still needs significant work.


The Apple employees were extremely patient with me and try to do their best to accommodate me with what they had and I am extremely grateful for that. Hopefully future versions will be better for people like us.


here is a link to the manual that discusses some of the accessibility features.


Get started with accessibility features on Apple Vision Pro - Apple Support


Feb 17, 2024 6:14 AM in response to eml

I have nystagmus as well. I tried the demo yesterday. It actually went ok for me. I struggled at first but realized to get to where I want it to go I had to really focus. So , for example, if I wanted to close the window I had to think about it and really focus my eye on the “X”. I totally understand the way you feel. It’s hard exhaling what I did, but really had to have my brain try to focus my on a particular thing.

I have nystagmus and using the Vision Pro was a challenge. What was your experience?

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