basic information on visual performance and evaluation

1. VISUAL
PERFORMANCE
AND EVALUATION.
By S.Persis Benetta
M.Optom 2nd year.

2. What is Visual Performance?
• It is the ability of the visual information gathering system (VIGS) and visual information processing
system (VIPS).
• To operate quickly, effectively, and with no discomfort.

3. Emergent Techniques for Assessment of Visual
Performance.
• EmergentTechniques for Assessment ofVisual Performance examines four areas of vision testing that
offer potential for improved assessment of visual capability including:
• Contrast sensitivity function
• Dark-focus of accommodation,
• Visual acuity
• Depth tracking
• Focal vision.

4. Visual Performance in Sports: Assessment,
Training and Improvement.
• visual performance is an important factor that can often be overlooked when it comes to training
regimens.
• The vision and perceptual skills often identified as important for sports include static and dynamic
visual acuities, contrast sensitivity, stereopsis, accommodative-vergence facility, span of perception,
multiple object tracking, central and peripheral eye-hand/foot response speed.

5. • The Welford Information Processing Model is useful for understanding how the critical sporting action
output results from the successful execution of lower-level processes.
• The relationship of vision and skilled movement.

6. • Using this model, the following is an example of classifying assessments into the relevant perceptual
mechanism:
• Perceptual Mechanism assessments:
• VisualAcuity
• Contrast Sensitivity
• DynamicVisualAcuity
• OcularAlignment
• Stereopsis
• Accommodative Function
• Vergence Function
• Oculomotor Function
• PeripheralVision
• Receives information from the retina
• Recognizes and interprets the information

7. • Decision Mechanism – concerned with response selection and strategy formation.
• Speed/Span of Recognition
• MultipleObjectTracking
• VisualAttention/Visualization
• Effector Mechanism – selects motor response
• CentralVisual-Motor Reaction Speed (Eye-Hand, Eye-Foot)
• PeripheralVision Response Speed
• Vision & Balance
• Coincidence-Anticipation timing

9. Visual Performance training.
• The goals of sports vision training are to remediate any vision conditions that may limit performance,
such as refractive error, and to enhance an athlete’s visual performance factors when they are less
developed than their peers.
• The most common options to optimize visual performance include refractive compensation, filters,
nutrition, and sports vision training (SVT).

10. • Sports vision training programs operate under the logic that practice with demanding visual,
perceptual, and sensorimotor tasks will improve vision, leading to:
• Quicker sensory processing
• Swifter and more accurate motor movements
• Improved athletic performance
• A potential reduction in injuries

11. Nutritional Improvements for Better Visual
Performance.
• Lutein (L) and zeaxanthin (Z) are plant-derived carotenoids that are found to be concentrated in the
eye and brain. L & Z are the only two naturally occurring carotenoids found in the macula and
concentrated within the inner layers of the fovea (macular pigment) to act as a filter for light.

12. • Increasing the intake of L & Z may provide valuable improvements to visual neural function that can benefit
athletes, including:
• Glare recovery and discomfort
• Photostress recovery
• Contrast sensitivity
• Visual acuity
• Visual processing speeds
• Reaction time
• Blue light protection

13. What do these improvements look like for
athletes?
1. Improved glare recovery and reduced discomfort helps a football player find the long pass after it
passes through stadium lights to make the catch.
2. Photostress recovery helps a baseball player exiting the dark dugout see “normal” faster after
experiencing the blinded feeling when stepping into the sunlight.
3. Contrast sensitivity helps a golfer locate his ball in the air after a drive.

14. 4. Visual acuity helps a sharpshooter identify the target quicker and more accurately.
5. Visual processing speeds and reaction time speeds up the time it takes athletes to read a situation,
make an informed decision, and physically react.
6. Blue light protection helps a gamer’s eyes feel less tired and strained during a long campaign.

15. 7. Increasing macular pigment through L & Z supplementation offers a potential method to improve
visual performance by enriching natural physiology.
• Further, common symptoms following traumatic brain injury include increased sensitivity to bright
light (glare discomfort), glare disability, and slowed photostress recovery.
• Supplementation with L & Z may provide similar benefits to filter application in athletes who have
concussion-related symptoms and may provide more long-term relief.

16. Evaluation

19. THANK YOU !