6/60SEEN20/2006/24DIFFERENTLY20/80
Most people losing their sight don't lose it all at once, and the people around them rarely know what they're actually seeing. This is a live simulator: move your eyes, turn the dial, and watch the everyday world change.
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Patterns, not diagnoses
Each simulation shows a common way vision changes. Many different conditions can cause the same pattern, and every person's experience is a little different.
Double vision
Everything arrives twice, slightly out of step, and your brain can't decide which copy is real.
Tunnel vision
The middle stays sharp. Everything around it quietly goes missing.
Distorted vision
Straight lines ripple. Door frames bow. Faces don't sit quite right.
Central vision loss
Look straight at something, and it's the one thing you can't see.
Patchy vision
Pieces of the world are missing, and never where you'd expect.
Colour changes
The traffic light is lit. Which one?
Hazy vision
Like looking through a window nobody has cleaned in years.
Light glare
Every headlight becomes a small explosion.
Migraine aura
A shimmering zigzag grows from where you look, and takes part of the world with it.
Half-field loss
Half of everything is gone, and your brain doesn't tell you it's missing.
Close-up blur
The menu was fine last year. Now your arms aren't long enough.
Shaking vision
Every step makes the world jump, so you stop to read a sign.
Visual snow
Like an old television that never finishes tuning in.
Why it matters
The World Health Organization estimates that at least 2.2 billion people live with near or distance vision impairment. In at least a billion of them, it could have been prevented or simply hasn't been treated yet.
The leading causes are uncorrected refractive error and cataract, both of which are treatable. Many of the others, including glaucoma and diabetic eye disease, do the most damage when nobody notices them early.
Changes that can't wait
Go to an emergency department or call your local emergency number (112 in Europe, 911 in the US) if you notice:
- sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes
- a shadow or curtain moving across part of your view
- a sudden burst of new floaters or flashes of light
- sudden double vision, especially with headache, weakness, a drooping eyelid or slurred speech
- a painful red eye with blurred vision, halos around lights or nausea
These can be signs of retinal detachment, stroke or acute glaucoma. Hours matter.