My Oculus Rift unbroke :) :) :)

I finally got the HDMI connector that Oculus's support Fedexed me, plugged it in, did some finagling, and to my amazement it worked.  I just put in 40 minutes of Diplopia yesterday.  I am super happy right now.

What else... I was surprised by how big and depthy everything was.  I still didn't pass most of the vision integration tests, but it does seem as though my vision has improved a lot in the past few weeks without playing Diplopia.  Even one of my diplopia tests seems to indicate progress (looking down at my double left foot).  What's going on?  Why is this happening?

Well, maybe it's because I took a good long break.  But I think even more than that, it's a combination of two different habits I've recently formed.  I do 20 minutes of meditation while undergoing tDCS in the morning, upon waking.  That, and I've also been doing a lot of reading using the modified reading techniques that I've described in previous entries.  This means that I minimize saccadic eye movements by maximizing the use of my peripheral vision.  

By doing meditation and tDCS in the morning, I'm priming my brain for changeability.  Meditation is known to improve learning.  tDCS is known to do the same.  Then later in the day I read with the new reading technique to improve the peripheral vision.  It does seem that I've improved the peripheral vision of my left lazy eye quite a lot.  It seems to have very good mobility as well, in order to avoid diplopia.  When I was walking down the hallway I noticed books to my right, and was surprised by how close the double images of them appears.  It really felt like I was beginning to get an understanding of what objects look like in three dimensions.  It kind of left me thinking 'whoa.'. 

What else... I found a much better way to use my Iontophoresis.  I got fed up using the crappy cables that I had created to interconnect the Ionto's weird leads to the banana plugs I use for the electrodes.  They kept corroding, which caused the Ionto's impedance detectors to go off.  I ended up finding leads with the correct 'Safety Leads', which connect to a pin-to-banana plug adapter.  I also bought a bunch of plastic pipettes for soaking the electrodes with saline.  This has made tDCS much, much less cumbersome.  That's a big deal, when you have this giant ski mask-looking thing (Oculus Rift) attached to your head, with a hairband underneath, with electrodes strategically placed--with headphones on to top it off.  

It does feel like I'm getting closer.  I know better than to guess when, but I'm not sweating it.  

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My Oculus Rift broke :/

Yeah, it was pretty stupid.  The HDMI cable seemed to be bad, so I replaced it.  It worked--for a while.  But because you have to open an access panel, it left some of the innards exposed.  Well, some saline from a cathode dripped onto the HDMI connection and the video went out.  It's still an Oculus Rift.  Everything about it seems to still function--all except for the video.  I'm in the process of getting a replacement.  I hope they replace it, or are able to provide a solution of some sort.

Folks, if you get a DK2, be very careful.  There do seem to be some problems with the HDMI connection, which have been reported by several others.  There may be nothing that you can do about it, but to be on the safe side, handle your Rift with great care.

Regardless, I'm going to get a replacement.  The question is whether Oculus is willing to replace it (there's no warranty as it's a beta device--it's sold 'as is'--understandable), or whether I should wait for the commercial version.  They say that it's going to be released 'within months'.  It makes no sense to get another DK2 if it ships in six weeks, and then another four weeks later the commercial version becomes available.  I am miffed.  But I'm also happy because I know that the Rift is an effective tool for vision therapy, the best thing out there so far by far, in my humble opinion.  I'll get another Rift and back at it, fixing my vision with Diplopia with hopefully only a minor hiccup.

More progress with Diplopia

It's the end of the weekend.  I just did a 40 minute session of Diplopia with tDCS.  I noticed quite a difference from the last time I played (three days ago).  It started me off with Bricks.  Immediately I noticed that things are bigger and seem closer to me.  I still failed the initial visual integration tests that begin before you're immersed into the game.  But I did do better than ever.

What else, my driving has improved quite a bit.  I am much more aware of what's going on around me.  This must be a result of decreased suppression.  Driving is actually kind of enjoyable when your eyes work properly.  I did notice, yesterday in particular, that my lazy eye seems to be doing extra work in terms of mobility--like my brain is whipping it into shape by saying 'hey, we're using you now, so start behaving like an eye.'  Laziness will not be tolerated!

I do have some anxiety as my suppression continues to decrease.  Are all of the pieces going to work themselves out?  Or am I going to break my vision?  haha!  Pretty nerve wracking.  This is a sentiment that I know is shared by Robert (mentioned in previous entries).  He's worried, in particular, about reading.  Are the words going to match up and properly overlay on top of one another so that he has a true singular view of the page?  Or is it going to be a confusing non-aligning mess in which he's unable to make sense out of anything?  Man.  It takes a lot of balls to do vision therapy.

I think combining tDCS and Diplopia (game) is working

I did get a warning from a friend who linked me to a Sovoto post where someone mentioned that the game Diplopia had given him--well--diplopia.  No doubt, I do have diplopia, and have always had diplopia.  It just got stronger when I started doing vision therapy.

The diplopia has indeed gotten stronger since I've been playing Diplopia, and much stronger when I started incorporating tDCS in the Diplopia routine.  But I'm not worried about it because the diplopia  means that my brain is ignoring my left eye less and less.  As long as that happens alongside improved mobility and coordination of that eye, then we're good.  And that does seem to be what's happening.

Some of the metrics that I use for measuring alignment are definitely showing indications of progress.  For instance, taking pictures of my eyes while tilting my head down while looking up at the mirror shows significantly less hypertropia than before.  Also when I looked down at my left foot for the double left foot, the double images are almost single.  Also, driving has improved quite a bit--just my confidence in changing lanes and knowing what's there.

Also, I'm really kicking ass at the Bricks game.  But there's still quite a bit improvement to be had. What seems to work best for me is two days on (with tDCS), two days off.  I really wanted to do Diplopia yesterday but I made myself not do it because I knew that I would benefit from the rest.  And indeed the next morning my vision looked great.  Vision therapy is sort of like weight training.  You don't get stronger while you're working out.  You get stronger during the time off.  Well, break time is off for now.  I've got two more days of intense training.

So I tried playing Diplopia while undergoing transcranial direct current stimulation...

... with positive results.  It was inevitable for me to try this.

The Bricks game is generally very difficult for me.  But this time I did extremely well.

It's hard to say whether I'm getting better at the game because I'm learning how to interpret what I'm seeing in the game, or whether it's because my vision is improving.  Likely, it's both.  Usually with Bricks, I'm pretty bad, especially when the ball comes at me on the left side (my suppressing side) and in the mid-left side.  My judgement really stinks in that area.  But this time I did extraordinarily well.  I have never got past the second level.  This time, I got past the fourth level.  My judgement just seemed to be very good.  Is it because of improved vision?  I don't know.

Putting on the electrodes was a pain in the ass (like always), but particularly so because I have to situate them around the HMD.  I guess what gave me the idea to try Diplopia with tDCS is because tDCS is known to help with fatigue.  One of the things that I've learned in my vision therapy journey is to take breaks, especially if you have high-intensity workouts.  A friend had visited for a few days and during those days I did not play Diplopia.  Those days I saw visual improvement.  So I think I'm going to do a two day off, two day on schedule.  However, this is the third day, but I figured that I could get through it if I combine it with tDCS since it's known to help with fatigue.  But since I can do it with tDCS, I may as well do Diplopia with tDCS since tDCS is also known to help with vision therapy exercises that focus on breaking through suppression.

The Diplopia workouts are definitely good even without tDCS, so I may mix and match sessions with and without, but if I had to guess, they do combine quite nicely.  I'll be doing this in future sessions for sure.

An update on progress with Diplopia

I mentioned in previous entries that I stopped doing ordinary vision therapy after I got my Oculus Rift.  Now all of my vision therapy is done via the Oculus Rift through the game Diplopia.  I've been playing Diplopia for almost two weeks.  Here's where I currently am with it.

I am making progress with Diplopia, although it's not as fast as the progress which others have reported.  One of the test subjects, Dillon, reported seeing depth immediately after putting on the HMD and playing the game for a bit.  James said that it took around five sessions for the game to correct his vision and to get flashes of stereopsis.  Diplopia seems to work very quickly in general, but not as fast for me, probably because my brain sucks. :/

That said, I am making quick progress.  It's hard to explain exactly how I'm making progress, just that I am.  I suppose you could say that my double vision input streams are converging on one another.  Also, when I look at something close up, I'm very aware of the two input streams.  So the suppression has come down.  With decreased suppression comes more overt diplopia, although it's not very bothersome for some reason, probably because the input streams are converging pretty well.

Playing the games is still tricky.  I'm kicking ass at Space.  I've figured out that game pretty well, and I'm able to fly the spacecraft through the rings with good facility.  It's enjoyable.  Sometimes I lose track of the spacecraft because I can only see it with my left eye.  I can tell that the game is really working my vision. 

The other game, Breaker, I'm getting better at.  It's still tricky, however, especially when I have to whack the ball in certain areas.  Around midfield on the right side I almost always whiff.  My depth perception still sucks in the game Breaker, while it seems to be pretty good at Space.  

Anyway, it's still early.  It's only been a bit more than a week.  We'll see where it takes me in a month.   

The Diplopia beta has been released to those who opted in (FINALLY!!!)

So I got Diplopia beta.  I played it for around 40 minutes yesterday.  You can consider this an informal review of the game so far.

The first impression that I have of the game after starting the executable is that it is very smooth and apparently polished.  There's also no anti-aliasing so some of the edges are pixelated.

It does a number of vision tests for suppression and visual integration, and then you get launched into the game.

The two games I've seen thus far is a Breakout-type game, and another game where you're flying through space blasting asteroids with a spacecraft.  The first game that I started (I didn't select to play the game, it just chose for me) was the spacecraft game.  The game starts with a timer set for 20 minutes (your vision therapy session length).  Your goal is to get as many points as possible by picking up items that you see.  You have to figure out where they are by gauging depth and space.

After playing for about five minutes, I could tell that the game was definitely doing something to my vision.  I could tell that the game was trying to force me to see in stereo.  It felt like I might have made the sudden shift at any moment, although it didn't happen.  It was definitely a strange sensation.  It was almost like I had approached a portal through which a different world resided, and I was so close to passing through.  That's the best way that I can explain it.

It's a fairly stimulating game--both the spacecraft game and the Breakout game.  You can tell how it works.  It forces both of your eyes to work in order to play the game by making certain elements only visible to each eye.  So with the Breakout game, you have your paddle which you can only see with your left eye, and the ball, which you can see only with the right eye.  In order to play and be successful at the game you must use both eyes.  Because of my suppression, this game is difficult.  I sort of have to guess as to where the paddle is in relationship to where the ball is.  But it's very satisfying when I can whack it because it gives me instant feedback as to where things are in 3d.

It's a brilliant game.  It solves so many problems at once.  For one, because the Oculus Rift has a giant field of view that means that the game can exercise the peripheral vision.  Another thing is that stereoscopic effects aren't produced by an active shutter mechanism, so the composite image is very bright and high quality.  The Oculus Rift DK2 also has positional and orientation tracking so that the vestibular system is engaged with the game (Diplopia has made good, smooth use of the DK2's positional tracking).  Finally, the games are very engaging and stimulating.  They're not boring.  The 20 minute sessions go by pretty quickly.  It's challenging.  You are really paying attention and engaging your brain in order to reach the target goals.  This is what vision therapy should be!

After I did the initial 20 minute session I tried to go back to the spacecraft game that I was playing before, but couldn't.  There's no choice to select the game that you play.  Instead, it took me to the Breakout game, which I played around with for quite a while.  One thing I noticed is that you have to be logged in before you play the game.  I wonder if the guys at Diplopia are tracking you to make sure that you play the spacecraft game for only 20 minutes per day.  You can't play the game if you don't have an active Internet connection.  We'll find out.

For a while I was tempted to make vision therapy games (since I have an Oculus Rift developer kit), but it's hard to see how this can be improved upon.  But maybe that's just a copout.  Major props to James for creating such a powerful use case for VR HMDs.  It's amazingly well put together for a beta.  I'm going to try and contain my excitement and just see how things go for the next week.  Thank you, James!!

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