Flaum Eye Institute scientists part of multi-institutional effort to make in-home vision rehabilitation a “virtual” reality

Imagine losing vision and discovering that the only effective therapy requires intensive training in a university lab hundreds of miles away — and that only a handful of people can access it. Fast-forward a decade, and that same lab could arrive at your door in a box. It might not be far-fetched.

The National Institutes of Health has just funded a multi-institution effort to deliver proven vision-restoration therapies directly to patients’ homes. Krystel Huxlin, PhD, James V. Aquavella Professor of Ophthalmology, is one of four principal investigators on the project, which is supported through an R61/R33 grant mechanism to develop and test a prototype system.

Called XRPsys (“exercise”), the project aims to create an open-source software platform that incorporates “visual psychophysics” into commercially available extended-reality (XR) headsets.

These devices, common in gaming, would detect vision loss and guide users through personalized rehabilitation exercises. The goal is to democratize therapies that currently exist only in research labs like Huxlin’s.

The collaboration is led by Northeastern University Professor Aaron Seitz, PhD, Director of the UCR Brain Games Center, and includes Professor Kristina Visscher, PhD, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Professor Lorella Battelli, PhD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard University.

Huxlin’s focus is on cortical blindness, usually caused by an occipital stroke. Her research has shown that stroke survivors’ brains can be retrained to process visual information.

“We know our process works,” she said. “But the training is intensive, the equipment expensive, and our lab can only help a few dozen people each year.”
Seitz sees XRPsys as a way to overcome these barriers.

The headset’s eye-tracking cameras would allow the system to diagnose patients’ visual deficits and deliver customized retraining regimens while enabling therapists to monitor progress remotely. Input from two patients who previously trained in Huxlin and Battelli’s labs will help shape the device’s design.

Battelli brings expertise in noninvasive brain stimulation, a technique that has accelerated recovery in prior studies with Huxlin. “The current is tiny and safe,” she said, “but can dramatically enhance the brain’s plasticity and speed improvement.”

Visscher is adapting the system for people with age-related macular degeneration. These patients often rely on “preferred retinal loci” in their peripheral vision. Training to optimize these loci can improve reading, face recognition, and mobility — but typically requires up to twenty in-person visits. A take-home system could expand access and provide richer feedback for researchers.

Once the initial prototype meets its goals, the second grant phase will fund broader dissemination. The software will be released as open-source tools, accompanied by $25,000 seed grants for researchers exploring new clinical applications. Among them is FEI scientist Matthew Cavanaugh, PhD, who plans a trial to improve vision in children with cerebral visual impairment (CVI).

If successful, XRPsys could transform how low vision is diagnosed and treated, at home and in clinics, bringing advanced vision rehabilitation to millions.

 

Zachary Laird | 12/4/2025