Experiencing the world of the visually impaired

Empatheyes invites organisations from around the world to use our unique technology to help others ‘See through someone else's eyes’ and understand what it’s like to experience life as someone who is visually impaired. Empatheyes is the first social enterprise of its kind to offer immersive Virtual Reality technology for live, virtual, visual impairment awareness training courses. 

We built the Empatheyes vision system to help professionals, care givers, medical staff and families that support people with visual impairment gain the skills they need to be both competent and confident around those they support. Our technology helps them:  

• Grasp the intricate and varied effects on vision that visual impairments have.  
• Understand the complex medical terminology surrounding visual impairment.  
• Increase comprehension and retention of information.  
• Recognise the day-to-day impacts for their VI clients.  
• Create a better environment and supporting those with visual impairment. 
• Challenge incorrect assumptions around visual impairment.

The system was originally developed with Angel Eyes NI, a charity that supports children with a vision impairment within Northern Ireland who were looking for a way to show the parents, teachers, support workers etc. of the children they support what it was like to have a visual impairment.   

Empatheyes Ltd has now advanced significantly from the original concept. Now a separate social impact company, the team have combined specialised hardware, software, and instructional material to deliver powerful visual impairment awareness training. One of the first systems of its kind, and the only VR based VI training tool, it allows for a unified instructor-led training session to take place in a VR environment with a large number of participants.   

The blend of hardware, software and training material allows participants to develop their understanding of over 30 different conditions.