Applied Vision Research Centre
The Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Vision Sciences

Department of Optometry & Visual Science,
City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB.

Pupil trace

The AVRC provides a focus for the development of multidisciplinary research projects with emphasis on both pure and applied aspects of vision research.

The Centre is part of the Institute of Health Sciences which brings together a number of strong research groups and provides an excellent base for vision related interdisciplinary research studies.

Our overall objective is to gain a greater understanding of the processes involved in the acquisition, analysis, storage and retrieval of visual information and the motor response.

Emphasis is placed on non-invasive techniques based on visual psychophysics and the measurement of involuntary signals such as visually evoked electrical potentials, eye movements, pupil responses and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Research areas cover topics concerned with fundamental visual processes, ophthalmic and physiological optics, vision care and clinical practice,visual neuroscience and the development of specialised instrumentation for non-invasive objective responses with emphasis on clinical applications.

Several research staff and most full-time academics in the Department are involved in the activities of the Centre, and undergraduate students are encouraged to contribute to the research activities in their final-year project work. The Centre has established successful links with industry, hospitals and other universities. Current support is mostly from Research Councils and Industry.

News

City University Research Prize awarded to Optometry. Slides from the winning proposal are available in pdf format.

Michael Morgan elected as a fellow of the Royal Society.

Research Groups

The current research activities have been developed on the strength of the skills and interests of our staff and fall naturally into four closely linked groups. Staff motivation is high and many research centre members are part of and contribute to ongoing research projects in more than one group:

Areas of expertise

Negative contrast stimulus

Advanced Vision and Optometric Assessment
Visual Psychophysics, attention, visual search
Electrodiagnostics / Chromatic Visual Assessment / Clinical Colour Vision Tests
Scattered Light / Aberrations / Adaptive Optics
Photometry / Radiometry / Ophthalmic Instruments
Clinical Trials, job related visual screening tests
Instrumentation for fundamental vision research and vision related clinical applications based on psychophysical tests and the measurement of involuntary responses such as eye movements, visually evoked electrical signals and pupil responses
Anatomy and Physiology of the Visual Pathway

Summary of staff research interests.

AVRC Director:	Prof John L. Barbur
Secretarial support:	Simona Wade (simona.wade.1@city.ac.uk)

Research Lectures

Research Meetings

	19th September 2008: Pupil Informatics: Pupil Response Mechanisms, Visual Performance & Clinical Applications More information Programme Registration form Abstracts summary
	17/18th November 2006: Coloured Filters in the Eye: Protective functions and effects on visual performance with emphasis on colour vision More information Programme Registration form Abstracts summary Group photograph
	14/15th September 2006: Consciousness, Memory and Perception: Insights and Hindsights: A Festschrift in Honour of Larry Weiskrantz Programme Registration form Abstracts summary Group photo
	7-9th September 2006: 3rd European Meeting in Physiological Optics More information Programme
	4/5th November 2005: Colour Vision: Fundamental Studies and Clinical Applications More information Programme Registration form Abstracts summary (password protected) Lecture notes (password protected)
	11th November 2004: Vision in the twilight zone: studies of visual performance under mesopic conditions More information Programme Registration form Abstracts summary
	4th December 2002: IHS Research Meeting: Recovery of sensory function following damage to the brain. Programme Registration form Abstracts summary