Guide Dogs NSW/ACT

September 2013. Mini Projector’s Head Lumenary, Barry Shuttleworth was invited to show the Guide Dogs NSW/ACT team some mini projectors.

The purpose? To test the viability of mini projectors for peripheral vision testing for people whose vision has been impaired as a result of stroke, tumour or brain injury.

The existing system involved a bulky piece of equipment, leaving little choice for patients other than having to attend one of the Guide Dogs’ clinics, which is not always easy with some of the mobility issues that brain injuries leave.

The challenge? Patients are required to face a projection screen from 30cm distance and identify a series of coloured lights as they are activated. A projector positioned behind the patient would cast a shadow on the screen so the projector needed to be elevated, angled and the keystone effect adjusted to provide a symmetrical image for viewing.

In addition, the whole system needed to be simple to set up, conform to OH&S policies and be as portable as possible as the Guide Dogs’ team wanted to be able to take it into people’s homes and/or hospital rooms as well as use it in remote clinics.

The mini projector assembly proved to be the easier part although it went through many builds before we settled on the projector and accessories.

In the end a Qumi Q5, 500 Lumen LED mini projector with a Contrast Ratio of 10,000:1 was selected, connecting wirelessly to the tester’s laptop using the Qumi WiFi dongle. An Energizer XP18000A laptop battery provides power to the projector at the same time as eliminating the requirement for power cables.

The Qumi Q5 is roughly the size of a VHS cassette and weighs less than 500 grams, so it is extremely portable. Its 500 Lumens provide ample illumination for the purpose and there is no warm up or cool down required as the LED light source runs warm but not hot. So the Qumi Q5 can be quickly packed away after the testing is completed, ready for the next patient.

The whole kit was then mounted on a lightweight tripod with a selection of RAM mounts, providing strength and flexibility to accommodate patients differing needs including size, patient mobility and equipment such as wheelchairs.

The screen has proven to be a bigger challenge but was again required to be lightweight and portable and simple to assemble on-site. Due to the 30cm proximity for testing, the traditional single tripod mount type screen was deemed impractical as chairs, wheelchairs, beds etc would not be able to be positioned close enough. So a tripod either side with a screen in the middle was required.

After numerous incarnations, the KISS principle was applied and an extremely simple lightweight screen was produced which can be assembled in about 1 minute.

The Guide Dogs Vision Testing team have ordered a number of the systems for some of their principal offices, both in Sydney and regional NSW and we’ll look forward to keeping you updated on the progress of the testing program.

Oh, and the total cost for each kit? Well, let’s just say that we provided about 5 complete kits for the price of 1 of the previous testing systems. That represents a significant cost-saving and faster and easier access to appropriate testing for many more vision-impaired people.

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