Visual Attention Therapy Lite app review: train scanning in a left-to-right, top-to-bottom pattern 2021

Introduction

Visual Attention Therapy Lite is a free training app to develop a visual scanning pattern from left-to-right, and top-to-bottom.

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This brain app was developed for people with “unilateral neglect” or “inattention” due to stroke or brain injury. It can also be used by children with dyslexia or pre-readers to establish a normal scanning pattern. 

The game-like quality of this iPhone brain app requires a tap on your target in a layout of letters and symbols.  Accuracy and speed of your performance is measured in both practice and test.  

Accuracy is displayed in a percentage of targets successfully touched in the correct sequence, while speed is scored by the number of seconds between touching the first and last target. 

In this Lite version , only one of the ten levels is available.  You can set the target to be one or two letters or symbols.  

For more details on this good brain app for iPhone, check out our Visual Attention Therapy Lite app review below. 

Main Screen

This is a simplistic app with a clean main screen, which gives you two main buttons to choose between “Practice” and “Test..  The top left corner has an “i” button, which brings up an Instructions page. 

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The Instructions detail the differences between Test and Practice mode and a short description of each setting criteria. The Settings button is in the top right corner, marked by the standard toothed gear pattern.  

Test and Practice

Selecting Visual Attention Therapy Lite’s “test” mode brings up a prompt for “Number of Targets.” You can slect one or two targets by sliding the darkened field over the numeral “1” or “2.

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Pressing the arrow button pointing off screen to the right brings up an array letters and symbols.  The simple target designation is displayed at the top “Touch Every (target letter).” Now you scan each row from left to right and touch every target.

Once complete, your score of percentage accuracy and elapsed time is displayed. Next, a pop up menu with “What’s next?” is displayed with three choices: “Try Again,” “E-mail Results,” and “Done.”

The Practice mode layout is identical to the test mode. In practice mode, an error warning sounds when a target is missed. You are not allowed to progress past the current row without hitting all the targets in sequence, from left to right. 

Also a “Signal” or colored bar may be chosen to be displayed on the left or right side of the screen as a visual cue to draw attention to that side for users with visual inattention.  

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Simple intuitive layout
• Clear, quick feedback on performance
• Easy to opt out of data collection

Cons

• No records maintained to track progress
• Must pay for full version to access all options and levels

Final Thoughts

Visual Attention Therapy Lite is a sample of the paid version.  This is an effective fun, fast tool to develop correct visual scanning patterns. However this pattern is language-specific using a scanning pattern from left-to-right and top-to-bottom.