Aston University Eye Clinic located in Birmingham, England is the largest optometry teaching centre in the UK.  Its final year Optometry undergraduates are taught in the clinic under close supervision by experienced practitioners. A specialist on-site clinic provides appointments and eye examinations to over 6,000 NHS and private patients annually – these are longer than typically experienced on the ‘high street’ as every aspect of eye health and vision is checked.  The clinics allow the next generation of optometrists to gain valuable clinical experience and for patients to receive thorough eye care, using industry-standard equipment, in a comfortable and spacious setting.

It is within this exemplar environment, that Empatheyes VR Visual Impairment Simulator will be used to help teach the next generation of Optometrists.  The clinic is led by internationally renowned researcher ProfessorJames Wolffsohn, Head of Optometry since 2000 and former Deputy Executive Dean for Life Sciences and associate Pro-Vice Chancellor at Aston University.  

A number of specialist eyecare conditions are catered for including children’s and binocular vision, dry eye; and low vision clinics alongside more common refractive conditions such as short sightedness (myopia), long sightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism.  A dispensing showroom also includes spectacles and contact lenses.

The Aston eye clinic proposes to use Empatheyes technology to recruit students onto optometry courses as part of ‘open days’ at Aston University, such is the novel nature of our virtual reality technology to provide an immersive learning experience.

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