human vision Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, scotopic vision (night vision), and mesopic vision (twilight vision), using light in the visible spectrum reflecte ...

, the useful field of view (or UFOV) is the visual area from which

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

can be extracted without eye or head movements.Ball, K., V.G. Wadley, and J.D. Edwards, Advances in technology used to assess and retrain older drivers. Gerontechnology, 2002. 1(4): p. 251-261. UFOV size generally decreases with age, most likely due to decreases in visual processing speed, reduced perception, and increased susceptibility to distraction. UFOV performance is correlated with important real-world issues, including risk of an automobile crash. Performance can be improved by

computer-based training Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edtech, it often refer ...

History

UFOV assessment and training programs were primarily developed by Karlene Ball of the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

, and Daniel Roenker of

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

. The first versions of the assessment and training programs were produced at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

by Robert Sekuler and Ball. These programs were originally made available through Visual Awareness Inc.

Assessment

The traditional UFOV assessment is a computer-based visual test containing three subtests. *

Processing Speed Mental chronometry is the scientific study of processing speed or reaction time on cognitive tasks to infer the content, duration, and temporal sequencing of mental operations. Reaction time (RT; sometimes referred to as "response time") is meas ...

: Determines threshold for discriminating stimuli presented in central vision. * Divided Attention: Same as 1, but with the addition of a concurrent peripheral target location task. *

Selective Attention Attentional control, colloquially referred to as concentration, refers to an individual's capacity to choose what they pay attention to and what they ignore. It is also known as endogenous attention or executive attention. In lay terms, attenti ...

: Same as 2 but with the addition of distracters. The threshold scores are combined to produce an overall performance score.

Impact

Performance on the UFOV assessment is correlated with several real-world functions: * Several studies have shown that a reduction in UFOV is correlated with an increased risk of an automobile accident, with poor performers about twice as likely to have an automobile crash as good performers. * Drivers with poor UFOV performance take longer to cross intersections and initiate crossing later. * The UFOV assessment is one of the best visual or cognitive predictors of crash rates, surpassing

visual acuity Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

tests (used at most Department of Motor Vehicle test sites). * Poor UFOV performers have more collisions during obstacle navigation while walking. * People with poor UFOV performance have higher rates of falls causing injuries.

Training

Performance can be improved by computer-based training. Multiple studies have shown that improved UFOV performance generalizes to several real-world functions. UFOV training has been shown to: * Reduce dangerous driving maneuvers by 36% when measured 18 months following training. The same study showed faster reaction times equating to an additional 22 feet more stopping distance at 55 mph. * Reduce at-fault automobile crashes by 51% in the five-year period following training. * Reduce the risk of driving cessation by 40%. * Help maintain driving distance and driving in difficult situations such as in the dark, in rain, and rush hour traffic. * Reduce the risk of serious health-related quality of life decline measured at 2 and 5 years. * Reduce subsequent annual predicted

medical care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profess ...

expenditures at one year (by $244) and five years (by $143 p.a.). * Reduce decline in instrumental activities of daily living measured at 5 yrs post UFOV training. * Reduce the risk of the onset of clinically significant

depression symptoms Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introd ...

by 38% measured at 1-year follow-up. * Improve performance on timed activities of daily living, such as reading medicine instructions, counting

change Change or Changing may refer to: Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of the menstrual period * Metamorphosis, or change, ...

, looking up a

phone number A telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or to a wireless electronic telephony device, such as a radio telephone or a mobile telephone, or to other devices f ...

, and finding items in a cupboard. * Increased ability to identify lexical information in older adults.Grabbe, J. W., & Allen, P.A. (2013). Age-Related Sparing of Parafoveal Lexical Processing. Experimental Aging Research, 39, 419-444. Note: UFOV is not the same as a

visual field The visual field is the "spatial array of visual sensations available to observation in introspectionist psychological experiments". Or simply, visual field can be defined as the entire area that can be seen when an eye is fixed straight at a point ...

or perimetry test that examines the ability of the visual system to process light falling on various regions of the

retina The retina (from la, rete "net") is the innermost, light-sensitive layer of tissue of the eye of most vertebrates and some molluscs. The optics of the eye create a focused two-dimensional image of the visual world on the retina, which then ...

. Perimetry tests check for the integrity of the visual system while UFOV tests the ability to pay attention to the information in the visual field particularly when under situations of increased demand for attention.{{Citation needed, date=May 2021

Notes

Vision