As of late, tech news has been mostly about exploding mobile devices and the various bugs and glitches that come with new product releases — all these are negative, filled with hate and resentment. So why not take a step back for a second and, even for just a moment, appreciate life and how much it gets better with the technological advances that humanity has achieved.
Jamie Soar, a legally blind man from England, suffers from Retinitis Pigmentosa, a group of genetic disorders that involves the breakdown and loss of cells in the retina, affecting its ability to respond to light. According to UploadVR, in Soar's case, the hereditary eye disorder makes him quite nearsighted and it's impossible for him to see at night or in dark places — he would need to use a cane for navigation.
"His afflictions also include diplopia - which causes nearly constant double vision," Joe Durbin of UploadVR writes.
If he wanted a clear look at something, be it a book, television and computer displays or another person's face, Soar would need to lean in as close as he can. Just from this, we can deduce that a VR head-mounted display may prove beneficial for him. Even Soar thought so himself.
"I was interested in VR from the beginning but knew I had to try it myself," Soar tells UploadVR. "Part of me thought that something strapped to my face might work because of my reliance of things being up close."
Keen to try out more of the virtual reality technology, Soar made a trip to England three months ago, at a time when VR demos started rolling out to various retailers' physical locations. After marching to a PC World store, Soar was granted a few minutes with an HTC Vive unit that was on demo.
The HTC Vive head mount uses two screens, one for each eye. Each of them runs natively on a 1200 x 1080 resolution and has a 90 Hz refresh rate. This setup worked perfectly for Soar and counteracted his visual impairment. In fact, using the Vive, Soar can perceive the virtual world as clearly as those with normal vision. It was a life-altering event for him.
"Try VR . Find a means to try it because I went so long without ever knowing that this extra dimension existed that you can see," says Soar.
Soar notes that he has tried other VR headsets but so far, only the HTC Vive delivered an optimal experience for him.
Actually, this is quite a great marketing for the Vive. So question is, when will HTC or Valve take it upon themselves to send this guy an HTC Vive VR headset?
