VR for the Blind

I'm a legally blind entrepreneur who runs a travelling business where I sell custom, handmade jewelry and props at conventions. This helps me get by and pay the bills, but it doesn't leave much room for anything extraneuous.

Recently, after one of our conventions, my wife and I visited the Mall of America, since it's free to window-shop, and I'd never been there. Stopping by the Microsoft store, they were demoing their VR rig, the HTC Vive, and my wife and I decided to take a stab at it. I'd always wondered how well my extremely limited capabilities would handle something like a VR headset.

My wife made it seem so fun with her squeals and cries of amazement and startle. When it was my turn, I was nearly brought to tears immediately as, for the first time in years, I was able to really /see/ something in depth.

I've a hereditary eye disease known as Retinitis Pigmentosa, an x-linked, early-onset version. I've been losing sight since I was 2, diagnosed early since it ran in my  family. The best vision I had in my life was 20/40 at that age. Since the age of 16, I've been considered legally blind, my best-corrected vision lying around 20/260 with limited field. That was 18 years ago, and glasses no longer provide any significant help.

Growing up, I enjoyed many artistic endeavors, from origami to sketching to painting and more. At around the age of 16, it became near impossible to do any painting or sketching, and I've tried various methods to continue doing art in similar mediums.

During that demo with the HTC Vive, I was introduced to a VR game, a paint studio where I could see again, where I could work and express myself in even newer dimensions than I'd ever realized. My emotions whelmed, and I could narrowly contain myself in public. This was a literal eye-opening experience, and its paradigm shift has made me want to express more.

The cost for a Vive headset and a PC able to function with it, coupled together, runs close to $2,000. With the luxury market, which is primarily where I make my sales, being lean, I'm barely able to scrape by, but I yearn to do more with the Vive, to explore what I can still do, what I can still express through the painted/drawn medium in the virtual suite.

I'm looking to those who've a desire to help a blind man fulfill his desires for artistry, to explore down an avenue he thoguht completely blocked off, but now there's a secret toll way that can lead  him back.