Classification of sports-related functional vision

In August 2021, I kicked-off my PhD journey by joining the classification department of the International Paralympic Committee in Bonn, Germany. In this department I am involved in projects within the Paralympic movement, and I am supervised by Tea Cisic, head of classification, and Marieke Creese, VI classification manager. From an academic point of view, I am enrolled at the Free University of Amsterdam and my academic supervisor is dr. David Mann – who as an optometrist and sport scientist, is an expert in the field. 

Personal Background and Interest:

In the summer of ’21, I graduated as a Human Movement Scientist. On the side, I worked as a research assistant for a research group in the Ophthalmology clinic. Here I gained valuable experience in vision science. Additionally, working with those PhD students motivated me to pursue my own academic career. With my background in human movement science and vision science, topped with a HUGE passion for sports, I am definitely very happy with my position!

Aim of the project:

Athletes with vision impairment (VI) who compete in the Paralympic Games are placed into one of three ‘sport classes’ to compete against others whose impairment has a similar impact on their sport performance. However, the current classification system is controversial and may not adequately assess the functional vision of athletes. Eye movements are often impacted by VI, yet the classification system does not currently take these impaired eye movements into account. The objective of this project is to apply objective tests of functional vision to protect the interests of sportsmen and -women with genuine impairment. In particular, by leveraging consortium expertise (e.g., UMCG, VU, RPR) and by applying eye-tracking-based tests this project aims to 1) classify sports-relevant functional vision, (2) identify misrepresentation and, (3) study the capacity of athletes to compensate for their vision impairment.

Current activities:

To date, together with ESR3, I have performed a systematic review to survey approaches for tracking the eye movements of people with vision impairment. The survey considers the test paradigm adopted, the equipment used, the ocular conditions examined and the relative success of each approach. This has provided insight into how to use eye-tracking to create an optimal test of functional vision in the presence of vision impairment. Accordingly, a battery of eye movement-based tests has been developed that is currently being applied to Paralympic athletes with a vision impairment.

To tackle intentional misrepresentation, we are now conducting a study to evaluate whether we can use lawful eye movement behavior (Fitts law) to detect those who give a submaximal effort on an eye movement test.

In addition, I furthered my understanding of the role of eye movements in the presence of vision impairment in a sports context by analyzing eye movement data from Para tennis players with a vision impairment during a serve return. 

Future directions:

During my secondment at the OVGU I will explore the applicability of electrophysiology as an objective test for visual function or a way to identify intentional misrepresentation.