Our Mission Statement

At Visual Awareness Research Group, Inc. , we are dedicated to improving the "Quality of Life" of senior citizens and people with cognitive decline. We are focused on delivering service to drivers that will decrease the likelihood of involvement in an automobile accident. And we are committed to enhancing mobility for senior drivers by prolonging safe driving into older age.

Building a Foundation of Awareness

UFOV is supported by over 20 years of research by Dr. Karlene Ball and Dr. Daniel Roenker, as well as independent researchers throughout the world. Funding for research to evaluate UFOV has exceeded $30 million since 1985 from the National Institutes of Health and other funding organizations.

Today, UFOV is the standard for senior citizens' driving safety in America.

Our Professional Staff
Kristina K. Berg, President
Karlene K. Ball, Ph.D.
Daniel L. Roenker, Ph.D.,Vice President, Research & Technology

Kristi Berg

As president of Visual Awareness Research Group, Inc. , Kristi Berg is dedicated to bringing Useful Field of View to the public. She believes success depends on improving the quality of life of senior citizens and others with cognitive impairment. People always come first. Kristi does everything from working closely with the researchers to helping to educate people about the tremendous peace of mind a Useful Field of View screening can provide as well as the tremendous benefits that can be achieved through Speed of Processing rehabilitation programs.

Kristi has always been people oriented. She started her professional career as a lawyer at Gardner, Carton and Douglas, concentrating on employee benefits. Later she became a consultant at Price Waterhouse to expand the ways in which she could render assistance to employees. She simultaneously worked in the Hispanic community as a Volunteer Legal Services attorney. She draws on both her technical background and community work to help bridge the gap between pure research and applying its profound benefits to enhance people’s lives.

Kristi has followed Useful Field of View research for over ten years and was a founder of Visual Awareness Research Group, Inc. She is convinced that this important tool not only improves people’s lives but, in many cases, safely extends them. She knows that this message and this service must be brought into people’s lives.


Dr. Karlene Ball

Dr. Karlene Ball brings the country’s top talent in attention and cognition research to the company. Karlene has devoted her life to science and has focused on improving the lives of older adults and others with impaired attentional or cognitive functioning. She is an inventor who coined the phrase “Useful Field of View” and developed and patented the Useful Field of View screening and rehabilitation systems, which have been validated by over 20 years and $30 million of research.

In addition to her activities with Visual Awareness, Karlene is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She currently directs the UAB Edward R. Roybal Center for Research on Applied Gerontology, funded by the National Institute on Aging. Karlene also directs the UAB field site in the ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent Vital Elderly) clinical trial.

Karlene has served on many Federal Government Public Advisory Committees, including the Transportation Research Board/National Research Council, Committees of the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Institutes of Health. She is a frequent speaker and consultant on projects and expert panels regarding setting standards for commercial drivers. Karlene is also a prolific author on visual, attentional, and other cognitive changes that occur with age.

Her research has garnered many awards, including a M.E.R.I.T. award from the National Institutes of Health, University awards for Research and Creativity, and a Highway Safety Award from Nationwide Insurance Co. Karlene’s high caliber research and contributions to science enable Visual Awareness to provide the highest quality products and services to its customers.

(For Dr. Ball’s complete Curriculum Vitae, click here to go to the UAB web site http://www.uab.edu).


Dr. Daniel Roenker

Dr. Daniel Roenker is vice president of research and technology at Visual Awareness. Dan is not only an inventor and researcher, he can answer any technical questions that you may have about the company’s Useful Field of View screening and rehabilitation systems.

Dan received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Kansas State University in 1973, has published numerous articles and has presented at numerous national conferences. Dan is also a University Distinguished Professor at Western Kentucky University.

Dan has collaborated with Dr. Ball on many research endeavors. He is continually refining methods for re-training attentional skills in older drivers. Dan’s inventiveness, research contributions, and relaxed style help Visual Awareness translate its research into programs that can help the people who can most benefit - senior drivers and others with cognitive impairment.