PyeongChang 2018: See through Menna Fitzpatrick’s eyes

Toyota have launched an Instagram account @SeeLikeMenna for people to see the world through the eyes of British 18-year-old vision impaired Para alpine skier Menna Fitzpatrick as she prepares to compete at her maiden Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, from 9-18 March.

This Instagram account perfectly illustrates what it’s like to ski down the steepest slopes at over 100km/ with only three per cent vision.

To convey Fitzpatrick’s perception of the world as accurately as possible, a visual impairment filter was created in conjunction with Menna and guide Jennifer Kehoe, with input from the Royal National Institute for the Blind in London and a team of ophthalmic consultants.

@SeeLikeMenna immerses you in her world, from relying on her sighted guide, Jennifer Kehoe, to scoping courses before a race, to checking equipment and clear Bluetooth communication. A small mishap can mean the difference between medalling up and wiping out.

The experience gets fully immersive with a 360 video experience that puts viewers in Menna’s skis. In an effort to further demonstrate the varied degrees of visual impairments, the 360 video also includes Paralympic athletes Marek Kubacka from Slovania and Maciej Krezel from Poland.

The video aims to help categorise B1 (no light perception) B2 (approximately three per cent vision) and B3 (4-10 per cent vision), the medical-based Paralympic classification for blind sport and the different degrees of vision impairment.

@SeeLikeMenna is part of Toyota’s “Start Your Impossible” campaign created in honour of the company’s shift to a mobility company and eight-year worldwide partnership with the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees.

“Start Your Impossible” features Olympic and Paralympic athletes and everyday people with messages of inspiration and courage, as well as future technology, all of which work together to humanise mobility.

@SeeLikeMenna was created in collaboration between Saatchi and Saatchi, Dentsu and Archer’s Mark, the independent production company behind the triple BAFTA-nominated feature Notes on Blindness.