Understanding Low Vision People's Visual Perception on Commercial Augmented Reality Glasses

People with low vision have a visual impairment that affects their ability to perform daily activities. Unlike blind people, low vision people have functional vision and can potentially benefit from smart glasses that provide dynamic, always-available visual information. We sought to determine what low vision people could see on mainstream commercial augmented reality (AR) glasses, despite their visual limitations and the device's constraints. We conducted a study with 20 low vision participants and 18 sighted controls, asking them to identify virtual shapes and text in different sizes, colors, and thicknesses. We also evaluated their ability to see the virtual elements while walking. We found that low vision participants were able to identify basic shapes and read short phrases on the glasses while sitting and walking. Identifying virtual elements had a similar effect on low vision and sighted people's walking speed, slowing it down slightly. Our study yielded preliminary evidence that mainstream AR glasses can be powerful accessibility tools. We derive guidelines for presenting visual output for low vision people and discuss opportunities for accessibility applications on this platform.