The World Health Organization announced that at least 2.2 billion people in the world from different age groups suffer from loss and impairment of vision, and the number is constantly increasing. It has become necessary to pay attention to this important segment of society and provide them with all means of assistance [1]. Civilized societies paid great attention to this segment of society and provided them with special care. Visual impairment affects people of all age groups and hinders the performance of their daily tasks, movement, and learning, in addition to psychological illnesses due to disability [2]. On this basis, researchers presented many pieces of research to find the most suitable and least expensive solutions. Research has provided virtual reality as an effective and helpful tool for this segment.

Virtual reality technology assists people with special needs by immersing them in an interactive three-dimensional virtual environment created through the computer. This technology has been used in many fields for a long time, such as communications, entertainment, games, education, and medicine. It is considered a multidisciplinary technology, and its capabilities depend on the development it has achieved over the years. So, the hardware and software used in virtual reality and user interaction in an immersive virtual experience are important factors and a major challenge in the success of any application [3].

Therefore, virtual reality uses interactive simulations to provide users with an immersive interactive experience like the real world. This experience creates a feeling in the user that helps the user navigate the virtual world. Through all these features, this technology has been employed for people with special needs and those who have functional impairment to compensate them for this lost disability through virtual scenarios through which specific tasks are performed [4].

This research presents a review of research in the field of virtual reality applications that help blind and visually impaired people improve their daily lives. The second section motivates writing this article. The third section presents the needs of the visually impaired. The fourth section reviews virtual reality assistive devices for people with visual impairment. The fifth section presents categories of people with visual impairment. The sixth section discusses the research that applied virtual reality technology to blind and visually impaired people and the results reached. The last section is the conclusions of this article.

With the use of virtual reality technology increasing significantly, it has become necessary for technology to quickly find its way to serve people with special needs, including the visually impaired. This target group faces many problems and difficulties in completing their daily tasks and integrating with society due to their visual impairment. However, the development and new digital technology, including virtual reality, has greatly increased interest in employing this technology to serve this segment, in a way that keeps pace with this development in the labor market. This group began to take its share of actual interest in providing appropriate facilities to practice their daily activities and tasks using virtual reality technology. Therefore, this research paper provides a review of the needs of this category, the modern devices, and the research that applied virtual reality technology to them. To help researchers and developers in this field.

Blind and visually impaired people have different needs in all domains of life, including education, social care, employment, and integration into society. Despite the progress in information technology, this segment of society continues to face major challenges, which can be highlighted in the following domains:

1. Education: Education is an important factor for blind and visually impaired people to develop their personality and skills. However, many of them face many obstacles in academic subjects, as well as in accessing their educational environment and participating in the classroom. There are means of assistance for this category, including loudspeakers and screen readers, which enhance the capabilities of this category of students. In addition to special methods for conducting tests for this category to ensure access to equal educational opportunities [5].

2. Health care: The process of obtaining health services is one of the most important factors in the well-being of civilized societies. That is why attention to the blind and visually impaired group in these societies has become important in this field. However, they face some challenges in some health facilities in terms of accessing them and facilitating movement and use of devices for people with visual impairment [6]. 

3. Social integration: Blind and visually impaired people often feel socially isolated and do not participate in social interactions. That is why they need to increase their awareness and enhance their compassion to build a more inclusive society. This is why social programs and social support networks must be accessible to facilitate their social integration [7].

4. Employment: Blind and visually impaired individuals find it extremely difficult to find job opportunities or advance in their professional lives. Therefore, employers must provide reasonable facilities to this segment by implementing technologies that they can easily access. These technologies enhance work culture by developing skills relevant to industries through which this group can obtain employment opportunities [8].

Overhead, the above elements summarize the needs of blind and visually impaired people in different areas of life. On this basis, researchers were interested in developing virtual reality applications that enhance these needs.

In the past, blind people relied on dogs to move from one place to another, and they used Braille to read and write. Today, humans need a kind of intellectual and motor independence to carry out their daily tasks without the help of others. Blind and visually impaired people are one of the major challenges facing societies [9]. It has become necessary for researchers and developers in the field of virtual reality to pay attention to this segment of society. In addition, needed to develop virtual reality devices and applications that keep pace with the needs of the blind and visually impaired group, and which play a major role in developing sensory and spatial awareness among users. This section will discuss the types of devices used in VR that are useful for this social segment.

1. Haptic Feedback: This technology used within virtual reality allows for tactile feedback and the transfer of spatial information to the user. These include tactile actions, such as vibration, as in video games, and the smartphone screen, which provides a reaction because of clicking a button, or vibrates to alert the user that he has received a message on the smartphone [10].

2. Audio systems: Virtual reality systems use sound to convey information to the user through audible audio reactions about the place and the surrounding environment. These spoken and audible responses help users gain spatial awareness and estimate distances and directions [11].

3. Wearable cameras: These cameras linked to virtual reality headsets or smart glasses transmit visual information to the user in real-time and transform it into tactile and auditory actions. These devices help blind and visually impaired people find objects, scan text, and provide descriptions of the scenes surrounding them [12].

4. Navigation Assistance: Navigation assistance for blind and visually impaired people based on real-time virtual reality technology. They rely on interactive maps, planning the routes used, and tactile and auditory directional signals to help them navigate in an unfamiliar environment [13].

5. Training and rehabilitation: Virtual reality applications are used to allow movement, exercise, and training by simulating a virtual environment. This cannot be accomplished without the help of these technologies, as the user is completely immersed in the virtual world provided by these tools to obtain the desired result. Virtual reality technology increases internal motivation and provides enjoyment that cannot be obtained through traditional methods [14].

The technological revolution in the systems greatly helps the blind and visually impaired in all segments, such as children at play and in kindergartens, students in their classes, the elderly in the home environment and outside it, and many important daily tasks that require information about the spatial world for the blind. Through it, blind people can move independently and gain an understanding of the surrounding environment by recognizing objects. These will help the blind and visually impaired to change the way they interact with the outside world.

Accordingly, virtual reality devices and their applications have many benefits, including: 

• Improving spatial awareness using virtual reality devices and applications. In addition to improving their ability to perform their daily tasks. 

• Navigation by providing guidance and maps in real time and in indoor and outdoor spaces independently. 

• Accessing visual information through wearable cameras and assistive devices that help users read and interpret information [4]. 

• Obtaining educational and employment opportunities through training programs based on virtual reality technology. The user gets an immersive educational experience in various specializations and, as a result, obtains appropriate education and job opportunities [8]. 

Integrate with society and participate in social interactions using virtual reality technologies and applications. Where the user can immerse himself in recreational activities and unique social experiences [7].

Poor or absent vision indicates limited or absent activities and functions of the visual system. Where the inability to see light and objects partially or completely. This disease affects the patient's daily life. There are varying degrees of these cases, including:

1. Blindness: This condition refers to complete or almost complete loss of vision. They suffer from significant visual limitations that make them unable to carry out their daily lives and activities normally. In addition, individuals in this category rely on mobility aids or auditory cues.

2. Visual impairment: This is poor vision, as individuals may suffer from partial vision. This group cannot correct their vision with medications, glasses, contact lenses, or surgeries. In addition, this group finds it difficult to carry out their daily activities. There are varying degrees of visual impairment among members of this group[15].

For the success of any device or application, it must take into case the user’s situation when conducting the experiment or developing an application to serve this segment and finding the appropriate tools for them.

The relevant research was summarized, and the research was selected after the year 2018. The research, the environment in which the users worked, and what elements of the research were adopted in the system for blind and visually impaired people were described. In addition to the type of virtual reality technology that was used, the specific target group, and what are the limitations that faced the research at the end of the work.

Table 1: Related Research Works

From Table (1), virtual reality technology has been used in training, education, transportation, and entertainment environments for blind and visually impaired users. For instance, [10, 14, 16, 17, 21] studies have been applied in education and training environments for users through virtual reality technology and its tools and the addition of the senses of touch and hearing to compensate for the lost sense of sight. Likewise, the studies [10, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24] were applied in physical movement and navigation environments for the blind and hard of hearing, such as archaeological sites, airports, and movement inside and outside buildings. Likewise, the studies indicated the interaction of visually impaired people with interactive displays and computer interfaces to complete their daily tasks [22] and [25]. Users interact with virtual reality technology through the senses of touch and hearing and by using special devices that support the technology, such as smartphones, interactive maps, and special devices connected to virtual reality technology. Through reviewing previous research, some of the obstacles that researchers faced were identified. For example, some audio problems that may bother users. There is a need to design more comprehensive and realistic features and tools that are tested on blind people. In addition to more research to improve sound quality and user reactions. Also, to the need for larger samples when conducting studies.

In general, this study examines virtual reality technology designed for the blind and visually impaired, their needs, the problems faced by researchers in this field, and the most important devices used. This study will examine prospects for further research and development in this field.

Based on the research reviewed in this paper and when examining the impact of virtual reality technology on blind and visually impaired people. Virtual reality technology has been used to improve the quality of life of blind and visually impaired people and enhance their daily tasks. This technology provides an interactive environment and an immersive experience. However, there are still challenges and limitations to this technology.

The research also highlights the needs of the blind and visually impaired group to carry out their daily tasks in several areas such as education, training, navigation, health care, social integration, and employment. In addition, the most important modern and auxiliary devices that enable the user with visual impairment to interact in the virtual reality environment were reviewed, which strengthened this technology, made it more effective, and facilitated the user’s task to reach the goal for which the application was designed, or the system was created.

Moreover, the research reviewed and highlighted recent research that applied virtual reality technology to the blind and hard of hearing segment in different environments studied and determined the limits of each research so that researchers and developers in the future can overcome these limitations and provide research that best serves this segment. Given the promising and great potential of virtual reality technology, there is a very great opportunity to change the reality of people with visual disabilities, their view of the world around them, and their interactions with it.

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