Virtual Reality Based System for Measurement and Interpretation of Pupillary Function

Understanding a person’s physiological and psychological state requires the evaluation of pupillary function, which has a variety of uses, including assessing cognitive load, fatigue, and focus. Traditional pupillometry techniques such as, infrared cameras, eye-tracking glasses etc., however, can be time-consuming, expensive, and invasive. These techniques can be painful or uncomfortable for the individual, which would decrease compliance and possibly skew the data, and results. Additionally, these may also not always produce standardized testing conditions or accurately reflect the subject’s real-world experiences. A more effective, promising and realistic alternative method of assessing pupillary function is made possible by virtual reality (VR) technology. This research highlights the benefits of utilizing VR to measure pupillary function, including the creation of controlled, standardized testing environments, the capacity to gather data in a more naturalistic setting, and the ability to offer more flexibility in experimental design. Researchers can create and manage precise VR settings that cause certain pupillary responses, leading to more uniform experimental conditions and enhanced reproducibility and validity of findings. Moreover, VR enables more realistic, captivating, and immersive scenarios that produce data that is more ecologically valid. VR technology can also control other sensory modalities including auditory and olfactory inputs, which can be challenging to incorporate in conventional pupillometry. Overall, VR-based solutions are superior to conventional approaches in many ways and have enormous potential to further our knowledge of pupillary function and its significance in physiological and psychological processes.