Lighthouse International Introduces a New, Customizable, Low Vision Simulator That Shows How the World Looks to People Who Are Visually Impaired
March 2, 2010 – Lighthouse International, the non-profit leader in vision healthcare, research, education and advocacy, launches a new website that features the first customizable, low vision simulator that shows how a person with an eye disease sees the world. Visitors can choose a video from YouTube and select a filter that simulates macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, hemianopia and retinitis pigmentosa.
Lighthouse International Launches New Program In Harlem And East Harlem To Increase Access To Vision Care For Seniors
NEW YORK, February 11, 2010 – Recognizing that East Harlem and Harlem residents have a very high rate of diabetes but few eyecare facilities in their neighborhoods, Lighthouse International, a leading vision healthcare non-profit serving New Yorkers for more than 100 years, has launched a two-year pilot program called East Harlem: Early Action Saves Sight (EHEASS). The program offers vision education and services to residents 55 years and older who have vision health needs.
Lighthouse International Acquires National Association for Visually Handicapped (NAVH)
February 1, 2010…The Boards of Lighthouse International and National Association for Visually Handicapped (NAVH) are pleased to announce that Lighthouse International acquired NAVH on January 29, 2010.
Both organizations have a shared mission and a long history of helping New Yorkers who are visually impaired through a wide range of programs from low vision services to assistive devices to support groups. Lighthouse will continue this tradition of service and create a new program named in honor of NAVH founder and CEO Emeritus Lorraine Marchi L.H.D. Read the full press release.
WCBS 2's Health Watch: Electronics and Your Eyes
January 7th, 2010: It is estimated that at least 47 million Americans are nearsighted. Health Watch's Dr. Max Gomez speaks with Lighthouse International's Chief of Low Vision Programs, Dr. Bruce Rosenthal about what’s behind our worsening eyes. Watch the clip and learn more.
Focus on Low Vision: Healthcare Reform and Vision Rehabilitation
January 2010 – With healthcare reform on the horizon, several coalitions are working to make sure vision impairment and its rehabilitation be recognized. Dr. Cynthia Stuen, Senior Vice President, Policy, Evaluation, and Education examines these efforts. Read Dr.Stuen's full article.
Mark G. Ackermann, President and CEO of Lighthouse International led a Lighthouse delegation to the NYSE
Mark G. Ackermann, President and CEO of Lighthouse International rang the closing bell of the NY Stock Exchange on October 22, 2009 in recognition of World Sight Day which was celebrated earlier this month. World Sight Day is an annual international event to create awareness about the 314 million people worldwide who are visually impaired and the importance of preventing vision loss.
New York Times: "Burst of Technology Helps Blind to See"
On Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009, a front-page article in the New York Times highlighted a new technology called Second Sight, which is an artificial retina implanted in the eye in an effort to restore some sight to individuals who are visually impaired and blind. The main focus of the article was on Barbara Campbell, a New York City resident, whose training with the device is being overseen by Dr. Aries Arditi, Senior Fellow in Vision Science at Lighthouse International's Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute. Both Ms. Campbell and Dr. Arditi (who is the lead investigator on the project) are quoted often in the article and accompanying video, which you can access here: "Burst of Technology Helps Blind to See".
Lighthouse International and AMD Alliance International Host "Portraits of Macular Degeneration"
To mark the global celebration of AMD Week (September 21-28), Lighthouse International, and AMD Alliance International, two leading non-profit vision healthcare organizations, hosted an exhibit of the works of Adam Hahn, a renowned London-based portrait artist whose paintings illustrate how patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) see the world. The exhibit of 17 portraits opened September 17, 2009 at Lighthouse International's headquarters in New York City and is a call to action for people with the disease to be pro-active in seeking the help they need. AMD is the leading cause of vision loss in people over 50 in the western world and affects more than 9 million Americans.
Early Findings Show Some Gene Therapy Success for Leber Congenital Amaurosis Patients
Human Gene Therapy recently released an online report from a Phase I clinical trial supported by the National Eye Institute (NEI). The study found that after undergoing gene therapy for a full year, three young adults with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) reported increased light sensitivity in the retina with no adverse immune system effects.
Leber's affects around 3,000 people in the United States, and is a genetic condition that causes retinal degeneration and severe loss of sight from birth. The clinical trial, which is being conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and the University of Florida, Gainesville, has been testing gene therapy on a specific form of LCA caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene.
The reason this particular gene mutation was chosen was that RPE65 disease leaves some of the photoreceptors in the retina unharmed. This gave the scientists the opportunity to pinpoint those receptors and inject healthy copies of the gene under the retina in those areas.
While the patients, who were between the ages of 22 and 25, did not report an increase in visual acuity (the ability to read letters on an eye chart), all three did see an increase in their light perception. One patient was able to read the numbers on an illuminated clock for the first time.
"These are very credible early clinical results for LCA that give hope to many people for obtaining some sight," said Dr. Bruce P. Rosenthal, Lighthouse International's Chief of Low Vision Clinical Practice. But, he admits, "in all likelihood, (these results) do not apply to other visual conditions unless the gene loci involved are identical."
Dr. Eleanor Faye, of Lighthouse International, points out that the gene therapy for LCA is promising research, but it is still in the early stages and represents only one of the first steps toward the clinical use of gene therapy. She also explains that LCA is the only eye condition that has responded to such a treatment, so far.
Target Stores To Add Tactile Keypads
By the end of 2010, Target stores nationwide will be adding tactile keypads to their point-of-sale devices (more commonly known as check-out stations), allowing customers with visual impairments to enter their personal identification numbers (PINs) privately and independently, ensuring their financial privacy.
"You'll no longer have to ask for assistance entering your pin number etc. at checkout, if you're visually impaired," explains Dorrie Rush, Marketing Director, Accessible Technology for Lighthouse International. "That will protect your financial privacy, which is very important in today's retail environment."
Target's tactile device features keys arranged like a standard telephone keypad, which works in conjunction with Target's current point-of-sale terminals.
While all Target stores in the US will add the keypads by the end of 2010, stores in California have a year-end compliance deadline. The changes are being made on the heels of an agreement reached with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), American Council for the Blind (ACB), and California Council for the Blind (CCB).
Rush says Lighthouse International applauds the work of the mediators and joins AFB, ACB and CCB in urging other retailers to make accessibility a priority and follow Target's example.
The announcement comes almost a year after Target reached a settlement with the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) over the accessibility of the store's website.
BrainPort: Seeing Through Impulses on Your Tongue
If individuals who are the blind can read language using their hands, then they should be able to understand images drawn on their tongues.
That sensory substitution concept is the driving force behind BrainPort®, an experimental device being developed to help individuals who are blind see the world around them. BrainPort® uses a small camera with a zoom lens that is hooked to a pair of sunglasses and then that image is translated into small electrical impulses on your tongue through a small array of stamped-size sensors. That initial sensory data on your tongue goes to your brain, which can learn to process and interpret them as images. While BrainPort® does not replace the sense of sight, it adds to other sensory experiences to give users information about the size, shape and location of objects.
Produced by Wicab, a biomedical engineering company based in Wisconsin, Brainport is still in a prototype and has not yet been submitted to the FDA for clearance or approval. But Dr. William Seiple, Vice President of Research and Director of Lighthouse International's Arlene R. Gordon Research Institute, believes the device has the potential to help people with visual impairments achieve safer, more effective mobility.
Dr. Seiple has been asked by Wicab to test the efficacy of the prototype for use in everyday life. This study which, will involve 10 patients over a three-month period, will take place at Lighthouse International.
According to Erik Weihenmayer, a mountain climber who has tackled the highest mountain peaks on each of the world's continents, who also happens to be blind, the device has helped him start learning to climb like a sighted person.
"I thought it was cool how quickly my brain caught on to what I was feeling with my tongue," he told the NIH Record. Read the full article here: http://nihrecord.od.nih.gov/
Lighthouse at the Met Concert, "At Home in America", a Resounding Success
Over 400 visitors filled The Temple of Dendur in The Metroplitan Museum of Art on Friday night, April 17th for the Thirteenth Annual Lighthouse at the Met Concert. The museum's president, Emily Rafferty, welcomed guests and offered opening remarks, along with Dr. Tara Cortes, President and CEO of Lighthouse International. Dr. Leslie Jones, Executive Director of The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School, introduced the musical portion of the evening.
This year's theme was "At Home in America," in celebration of the museum's new American Period Rooms that will be re-opening in May. Featuring the acclaimed Lighthouse Vocal Ensemble and a host of talented instrumental and vocal soloists, the performance showcased a broad spectrum of music representing Colonial America to the Jazz Age. The eclectic musical program included a contemporary choral arrangement of Home, Sweet Home; "The President's March" -- the original National Anthem; a Scarlatti piano sonata; two Italian art songs; Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You"; and a crowd-pleasing "Sing, Sing, Sing." To provide access to the visual art, each musical work was accompanied by a digital display and verbal description of the selected American period rooms and representative decorative arts.
American Idol Finalist, Scott McIntyre, Visits Lighthouse International
Scott McIntyre, a very popular finalist on the hit TV show American Idol, who is legally blind, stopped by during his visit to New York City to hear the musicians of the Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School rehearse for their upcoming concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Greeted enthusiastically by the musicians and many fans who work and volunteer at Ligthhouse International Scott said, "This is a very special visit for me. I come from the same place these musicians do. There hasn't been a visually impaired pop singer in this country in a long time and I am doing my best to fill that gap."
The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School is the largest community music school in the country teaching children and adults who are visually impaired.
Lighthouse International Receives Million Dollar Donation in Honor of Long-Time Staff Member
Lighthouse International recently received a $1,000,000 check from a donor advised fund based in California. The check was from an anonymous donor and targeted for the general operating fund. And -- the gift was made in honor of Rosie Lopez, a member of the staff at Lighthouse International for nearly 15 years! Rosie is the Coordinator of the Reading and Recording Services, but she can be seen helping at the reception desk welcoming our visitors, in the Lighthouse Store helping people select appropriate devices to assist their vision function, and in the computer lab helping people to use assistive technology. In the elevators and in the halls she is always friendly and helpful.
At a breakfast in her honor on March 12th, 2009 Rosie was presented with a citation and plaque which will be used to name one of the reading rooms at the Lighthouse in recognition of her service to Lighthouse clients. Over one hundred staff, volunteers and Board members attended the breakfast in honor of Rosie.
In her remarks Dr. Tara Cortes, President and CEO of Lighthouse International praised Rosie's dedication and commitment to all of our clients. "All staff and volunteers at Lighthouse International have the opportunity to do fundraising," she said. "You never know who amongst the thousands of people who enter our doors each year will be inclined to make a gift to help support our programs and the important work we do."
Read-to-Me
On the heels of Stevie Wonder and others visiting the Consumer Electronics show last month to advocate for accessibility in the world of popular technology, (read more about that below) Amazon released the newest edition of its wireless reading device, the Kindle. The importance of this new model comes from a feature that has the visually impaired community a-buzz. The Kindle 2 now boasts a text-to-speech capability called "Read-to-Me".
The feature, which Amazon has deemed "experimental", allows users to have any of the over 230,000 books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs available on the device to be read allowed, in either a male or female voice, at whatever speed the user deems necessary. The feature is being heralded by many in the visually impaired community as a step forward in the technology world taking their needs into account, but not everyone is pleased with the development.
The Authors Guild, an organization that advocates for author's rights, is alleging that the Kindle is overstepping its bounds. The Guild's executive director, Paul Aiken, told the Wall Street Journal"They don't have the right to read a book out loud. That's an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law." Have you used the new Kindle text-to-speech feature? What do you think of the Authors Guild allegations? Talk to us, join the conversation at Lighthouse International's Facebook page.
Accessible Technology in the News
January 2009
Many of us living and working in the world of visual impairments have long complained that advances in accessibility often don't keep up with the fast-paced world of mainstream technology. This has never been truer than with the explosion of touch-screen devices such as the iPhone, iPod Touch, Google's G1 cell phone, and many more like them. Many feel that this movement towards exclusively touch-screen technology could leave behind not only those who are blind, but also the visually impaired and the aging baby boomers whose eye sight is slowly deteriorating.
Earlier this month, at the electronics industries largest annual conference, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas, famed musician Stevie Wonder, urged the CES vendors to remember their visually impaired users. Wonder, who is both an iPod and Blackberry user, was quoted by MSNBC as saying, "If you can take those few steps further, you can give us the excitement, the pleasure and the freedom of being a part of it."
Other advocates also spoke out at the conference. The MSNBC article, "Stevie Wonder: Touch-screens alienate blind", also quoted Mike May, of the Sendero Group. The Sendero Group are makers of talking map and GPS information and navigation systems for the blind and visually impaired. "Can I ski 60 miles an hour downhill? Yes. Use a flat panel microwave? No." May, who is blind, was reported to say.
These sentiments were echoed in an article that same week, published in the New York Times. The article profiled Google engineer, T.V. Raman, who lost his vision to glaucoma at the age of 14. To most, the fact that Mr. Raman uses Google's touch-screen cell phone, the G1, would seem incongruous. But with specific software he and a coworker created, Raman has made the device work for him, even without any buttons on its glassy surface.
"If I can get another 10 engineers motivated to work on accessibility," he told the Times, "it is a huge win."
Read the full text of these two articles here:
"Stevie Wonder: Touch-screens alienate blind"
"For the Blind, Technology Does What a Guide Dog Can't"
Lighthouse News Archive
Follow:
Share:
Discuss:
