Seeing and spotting hazards at intersections with side vision loss
Official title: Scanning and Detection at Intersections
Funded at Schepens Eye Research Institute · NIH-11296731 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses small dashcams and AI to track where drivers with same-side vision loss look and to automatically spot unsafe events so they can drive more safely.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Schepens Eye Research Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | September 30, 2015 |
| Project end | April 30, 2030 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $903,101 |
| NIH project number | 2R01EY025677-10 |
| Project ID | NIH-11296731 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Licensed drivers with homonymous visual field loss from stroke or traumatic brain injury who drive regularly or want to resume driving are ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People without homonymous visual field loss, those who no longer drive, or those medically unfit to drive are unlikely to benefit directly from this work.
What this research studies
If you take part, a small dashcam will be installed in your car to record your everyday driving. The team will use new methods to track both head and eye movements from those videos and apply AI to flag unsafe events like lane departures, pedestrians, or following too closely. They will pay special attention to how people scan at intersections, where large-angle looks are often needed to see hazards. The goal is to move from lab tests into real-world driving to help guide training or future in-car alerts.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could identify missed hazards and support training or vehicle alerts that reduce crash risk and help people with homonymous visual field loss drive more safely.
How similar studies have gone: Previous lab-based studies and crash-record analyses suggest that scanning and training can help, but applying automated head/eye tracking and AI detection in everyday driving is a novel step.
Where this research is happening
-
Schepens Eye Research Institute
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bowers, Alexandra Rae — Schepens Eye Research Institute
- Study coordinator: Bowers, Alexandra Rae
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.